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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 October 2023
Abstract
People have been subjected to content restriction for centuries. This paper attempts to introduce the development of this phenomenon and the way it functioned during Shakespeare’s lifetime and in the years of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Regardless of the place and time, censorship operates in a similar manner and constitutes an important tool for shaping a society and defending an oppressive system. The paper focuses on the censorship of plays. It discusses the influence of the causal nexus of theatre’s censorship on the society and the impact of Shakespeare’s plays on shaping the first leader of the post-apartheid South Africa. Research on censorship and its influence on various societies in different historical periods is necessary to better understand this phenomenon and to use the knowledge about the past to avoid censorship dominating freedom of speech in the present-day world.
Keywords: Shakespeare, RSA, censorship, apartheid, theatre
Streszczenie
Ludzkość przez wieki była ofiarą ograniczeń związanych z cenzurą. Artykuł ma na celu przybliżenie rozwoju cenzury, a także jej sposobu funkcjonowania w czasach Szekspira oraz w epoce reżimu apartheidu w RPA. Cenzura działa w podobny sposób niezależnie od miejsca i czasu jej stosowania i stanowi ważne narzędzie w kształtowaniu społeczeństwa oraz ochronie opresyjnego ustroju. Tekst skupia się na cenzurze sztuk teatralnych, badając wpływ, jaki na społeczeństwo mają efekty cenzury stosowanej w środowisku teatralnym. Mówi także o roli twórczości Szekspira w życiu pierwszego lidera Republiki Południowej Afryki po upadku apartheidu. Badania na temat cenzury oraz jej wpływu na różnorodne społeczeństwa w odmiennych czasach pozwalają lepiej zrozumieć to zjawisko, aby móc skuteczniej ograniczać wpływ cenzury na wolność słowa w obecnych czasach.
Słowa kluczowe: Szekspir, RPA, cenzura, apartheid, teatr
Introduction
In my article, I will discuss and compare theatre censorship; the main focus will be placed on the plays by William Shakespeare and their performances in Elizabethan and Jacobean England and in South Africa during the apartheid era. Also, I will try to demonstrate how Shakespeare’s creativity is still up to date when addressing modern problems by explaining the influence of his plays on shaping the worldview of the South African freedom fighters.
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