Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race
- The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Note on Shakespeare Editions
- Chapter 1 Did the Concept of Race Exist for Shakespeare and His Contemporaries?
- Chapter 2 The Materials of Race
- Chapter 3 Barbarian Moors
- Chapter 4 Racist Humor and Shakespearean Comedy
- Chapter 5 Race in Shakespeare’s Histories
- Chapter 6 Race in Shakespeare’s Tragedies
- Chapter 7 Experimental Othello
- Chapter 8 Flesh and Blood
- Chapter 9 Was Sexuality Racialized for Shakespeare?
- Chapter 10 The Tempest and Early Modern Conceptions of Race
- Chapter 11 Shakespeare, Race, and Globalization
- Chapter 12 How to Think Like Ira Aldridge
- Chapter 13 What Is the History of Actors of Color Performing in Shakespeare in the UK?
- Chapter 14 Actresses of Color and Shakespearean Performance
- Chapter 15 Othello
- Chapter 16 Are Shakespeare’s Plays Racially Progressive?
- Chapter 17 How Have Post-Colonial Approaches Enriched Shakespeare’s Works?
- Chapter 18 Is It Possible to Read Shakespeare through Critical White Studies?
- Further Reading
- Index
Chapter 17 - How Have Post-Colonial Approaches Enriched Shakespeare’s Works?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 February 2021
- The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race
- The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Note on Shakespeare Editions
- Chapter 1 Did the Concept of Race Exist for Shakespeare and His Contemporaries?
- Chapter 2 The Materials of Race
- Chapter 3 Barbarian Moors
- Chapter 4 Racist Humor and Shakespearean Comedy
- Chapter 5 Race in Shakespeare’s Histories
- Chapter 6 Race in Shakespeare’s Tragedies
- Chapter 7 Experimental Othello
- Chapter 8 Flesh and Blood
- Chapter 9 Was Sexuality Racialized for Shakespeare?
- Chapter 10 The Tempest and Early Modern Conceptions of Race
- Chapter 11 Shakespeare, Race, and Globalization
- Chapter 12 How to Think Like Ira Aldridge
- Chapter 13 What Is the History of Actors of Color Performing in Shakespeare in the UK?
- Chapter 14 Actresses of Color and Shakespearean Performance
- Chapter 15 Othello
- Chapter 16 Are Shakespeare’s Plays Racially Progressive?
- Chapter 17 How Have Post-Colonial Approaches Enriched Shakespeare’s Works?
- Chapter 18 Is It Possible to Read Shakespeare through Critical White Studies?
- Further Reading
- Index
Summary
The anti-colonial movements of the twentieth century created new interpretative contexts that drew attention to the racializations at play in Shakespeare’s work, as well as their disruptions. Using The Tempest as a case study, this chapter demonstrates how Shakespeare can be an ally in the struggle against racist abuse of power. Post-colonial methodologies teach us to notice how language secures the interests of the powerful and legitimizes colonial violence. In The Tempest the antagonism between the colonizer and those whose lands are invaded manifests in the battle between Caliban and Prospero: This is Shakespeare’s subject. But post-colonial theory affirms that the opportunity to attend to the vulnerabilities of the disempowered is available to scholars and audiences of every work. Post-colonial approaches do more than simply diversify the creative palette available to theater-makers; they provide the tools and the vocabulary to confront power and privilege, and affirm the possibility of a more just world.
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- The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race , pp. 254 - 267Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021
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