1. Györke Ágnes gyorke.agnes@arts.unideb.hu

2. 1. What is postcolonialism? 2. Why do we need to rethink Shakespeare from the perspective of postcolonial studies? 3. A postcolonial reading of Othello 4. A postcolonial reading of The Tempest

3.  A critical approach that takes ideological, political and economical implications into account  Its main assumption: literary works should not only be judged on the basis of their aesthetic value; their ideological implications should also be taken into account  Literature does not simply „reflect” reality, it also produces what we assume to be real  The term „postcolonial”: does not only refer to the period after colonialism, it is also a critical and theoretical framework  postcolonial readings of Dante, Shakespeare, etc.   a theoretical approach that challenges the ideology of colonisation and the stereotypes produced by the colonial discourse

4.  The idea of cultural superiortiy  The colonised is imagined as an exotic and dangerous „Other”; the European „Self” is seen as culturally superior  The idea of cultural superiority justified the „civilising mission” (the „Other” as barbarian, uneducated, etc.  the antithesis of the Western „Self” )  The Tempest is one of the basic texts of postcolonial studies: Prospero makes the island his own  the allegory of colonisation

5. Octave Mannoni: Prospero and Caliban: The Psychology of Colonization. (1950)

6. 1952 1977

7.  Emily Bartels (1997): postcolonial criticism emphasises the role of European domination and the exploitation to such an extent that we might assume that the very same inequalities existed in Shakespeare’s time

8.  The age of discovery (a period of global exploration between the 15th and the 18th centuries)  Colonisation of North America: Jameston, the first English colony, 14 May 1607. William Kelso (archeologist): „Jamestown is where the British Empire began”.  The Tempest: 1611.

9. Shakespeare Theatre Company’, rendezte Michael Kahn, 2005  Setting?  Historical background: Ottoman-Venetian war (1570-73)  Source: Giraldi Cinthio, Gli Hecatommithi (1565)  Richard Knolles, The History of the Turks (published in England in 1603)  First performed: King’s Men, 1 November 1604

11.  1952, dir. Orson Welles (Othello: Orson Welles)  1995, dir. Oliver Parker (Othello: Laurence Fishburne)  Opening scenes

12. Laurence Fishburne, 1995  Why is he called the Moor of Venice?  Is his portrayal stereotypical?  What does Brabantio accuse him of in act 1?  How does the Duke of Venice relate to him? Is he also prejudiced?

13.  In what sense is he an outsider in Venice?  Do you see him as a selfish, irrational character, or is his rage justified?  How is his jealousy portrayed?  Do you see him as Iago’s puppet?  Can the reader/spectator forgive him the way Desdemona does at the end?

14. Irene Jacob, 1995  Does she embody the conventions of the Renaissance?  Is she a submissive figure?  How does she address her father in act 1, scene 3?  How would you describe her relationship with Emilia?

15. Kenneth Branagh, 1995  What motivates him?  Why does he hate Othello?  How does he manage to achieve his aim? How does he make Othello vulnerable?  Is he a stereotypical character?  Can you forgive him?  A satanic figure; influenced Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses

16. John William Waterhouse, Miranda (1875)  Set on a nameless island  Historical context: draws on travel literature, most notably the accounts of a tempest off the Bermudas that nearly wrecked a fleet of colonial ships sailing from Plymouth to Virginia. Yet the plot is original.  Possibly: influenced by Montaigne’s essay „Of the Cannibals” (translated to English in 1603)

17. Christopher Plummer, 2010 Stratford Shakespeare Festival  Earlier readings: Prospero embodies the ideals of Renaissance humanism  Possesses a timeless, eternal truth  Postcolonial reading: the allegory of colonisation  Exercises power over Caliban and Ariel

18. Stratford Festival, Dion Johnstone  „The Other”, the barbarian, vs. the European humanist ideal  Animalistic, sexually rapacious (tries to rape Miranda)  His name: cannibal  Yet: the victim of Prospero’s oppression

19. John Everett Millais, „Ferdinand Lured by Ariel” 1852  Also serves Prospero  Less often analysed  The French writer Aimé Césarie portrays Ariel as a mulatto (A Tempest, 1969; adaptation, relies on the postcolonial perspective)  Magic, exoticism  often appear as traits of „The Other”  Comparative readings: while Caliban rebels Ariel seeks compromise

20.  Postcolonial readings offer an insight into cultural stereotypes in literary works  They challenge the opposition between „pure” high literature and ideologically inspired literature  They make us reconsider our own position as readers/spectators

21. 1. Loomba, Ania. Shakespeare, Race, and Colonialism. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. 2. Loomba, Ania and Martin Orkin. Post-Colonial Shakespeares. London: Routledge, 1998. 3. Roux, Daniel. „Hybridity, Othello and the Postcolonial Critics.” Shakespeare in Southern Africa 21. (2009): 23-29. 4. Skura, Meredith Anne. „Discourse and the Individual: The Case of Colonialism in The Tempest”. Shakespeare Quarterly 40.1 (1989): 42- 69. 5. Willis, Deborah. „Shakespeare’s Tempest and the Discourse of Colonialism”. Studies in English Literature 1500-1900. 29.2 (1989): 277-289.