After you read "Shakespeare in the Bush," discuss one or more of the following questions.
What assumptions did the author test out in the bush?
Were these assumptions verified? Why or Why not?
Was it possible for the author to translate the concepts and emotions of Shakespeare’s world into the African language and context to render the story understandable to them?
Or did her translation totally alter it?
Laura Bohannan assumed that everyone on the world, no matter what culture, race, or creed, would understand the themes of Hamlet the same way.
ReplyDeleteThe assumption was wrong, not only did the elders in the bush not understand the story the same way Laura did, they re-told it to make it fit their society. They did the same thing that Laura did, they assumed that everyone else on the planet would see Hamlet the way they did.
Laura was able to communicate Hamlet into an African language that translated, but she didn't know all of the customs and rituals that go along with it. So when she told the story the elders did not understand the story, they had to re-write it to fit.
I think "it was possible for the author to translate the concepts and emotions of Shakespeare’s world into the African language and context to render the story understandable to them." To some extend… I mean we all intake what we don't understand and relate it to what we do understand. I feel that even though there are so many different languages and cultures we all feel and go through the same type of feeling. It's kind of like how history repeats itself and even in a different way from the last but to some extend we could relate even if it happen 10,000 yrs. ago.
ReplyDelete