Györke Ágnes gyorke.agnes@arts.unideb.hu

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What is postcolonialism?
Why do we need to rethink Shakespeare from the perspective of postcolonial studies?
A postcolonial reading of
A postcolonial reading of

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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
Dante, Shakespeare, etc. readings of
 a theoretical approach that challenges the ideology of colonisation and the stereotypes produced by the colonial discourse

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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” )
is one of the basic texts of postcolonial studies: Prospero makes the island his own  the allegory of colonisation

Octave Mannoni:
(1950)

1952
1977

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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

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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”.
1611.

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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
Shakespeare Theatre
Company’, rendezte Michael
Kahn, 2005

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

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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?
Laurence Fishburne,
1995

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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?

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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?
Irene Jacob, 1995

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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
Kenneth Branagh, 1995

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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)
John William Waterhouse,
Miranda (1875)

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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
Christopher Plummer, 2010
Stratford Shakespeare Festival

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„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
Stratford Festival, Dion
Johnstone

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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
John Everett Millais, „Ferdinand
Lured by Ariel” 1852

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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

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