Studies in Shakespeare & the Early Drama (434-0-20)
Instructors
Wendy Wall
Meeting Info
University Hall 418: Tues 2:00PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
Appropriation, Adaptation, Reinvention: scholars have deployed these terms to theorize ways that 20th- and 21st-century artists --working in different media across the globe-- use Shakespeare's plays as a vital cultural and creative resource. These artists' acts of cultural translation offer sites for exploring complex social and political issues, including colonialism and postcolonialism, racial and ethnic tensions, gender fluidity, same-sex desire, structural violence, and legal inequities. In this course, we will focus on The Merchant of Venice, Othello, and Romeo and Juliet to explore transformations of Shakespearean drama through a range of media (print, theater, and film). We'll attend to creative reworkings such as Toni Morrison's Desdemona, Shishir Kurup's Merchant on Venice (a play about Hindu, Muslim, and Latina/o cultures in modern Los Angeles), James Lujan's Kino and Teresa (a play about star-crossed love in colonial New Mexico), the teen flick O, and Te Tangata Whai Rawa o Weniti (The Māori Merchant of Venice). All course assignments are structured to support the development of foundational research competencies in the humanities, with emphasis on formulating viable research questions, engaging responsibly with sources, and constructing evidence-based arguments. The final project invites students to undertake an original research inquiry into any global adaptation or afterlife of any Shakespearean play.
Class Materials (Required)
Texts include:
Toni Morrison, Desdemona, ISBN: 135027027X
Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, ed. Halio, Oxford World Classics 1st ed, ISBN: 019953585X
Shakespeare, Othello, ed. Thompson, Honigmann, The Arden 3rd series, 2nd ed, ISBN: 1472571762
Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Norton Critical Edition, ed. Gordon McMullan. ISBN-13: 978-0393926262