Pw botha biography of william shakespeare
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Kemel Aydogan’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Turkey. Credit: Mehmet Çakici
Hitler was a Shakespeare fan; Stalin feared Hamlet; Othello broke ground in apartheid-era South Africa; and Brazil’s current political crisis can be reflected by Julius Caesar. Across the world different Shakespearean plays have different significance and power. The latest issue of Index on Censorship magazine, a Shakespeare special to mark the 400th anniversary of his death, takes a global look at the playwright’s influence, explores how censors have dealt with his works and also how performances have been used to tackle subjects that might otherwise have been off limits. Below some of our writers talk about some of the most controversial performances and their consequences.
(For the more on the rest of the magazine, see full contents and subscription details here.)
Kaya Genç on A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream in Turkey
“When Turkish poet Can Yücel translated
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Introduction: Shakespeare in South(ern) Africa?
1This article cannot hope to renew the studies of Shakespeare in Southern Africa, the title of a yearly publication devoted to the productions, reception and possible rewritings of the Bard’s plays in the southern part of the continent. The debate around their place in the syllabus of South African schools continues unabated, in a country that has a peculiar history in its relation to Shakespeare. On the one hand, his work is not taught alongside its rewritings as is the case in several other African countries (with Césaire’s Une tempête, for instance), and it is still often associated with condescending white liberals (see for example Thurman 2015 and 2017). But on the other hand, it also evokes “The Robben Island Bible,” the name given to a copy of The Complete Works of Shakespeare confiscated from political prisoner Sonny Venkatrathnam but smuggled back into the cells by being passed off as a Hindu prayer book covered in Deepa
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During the morning of Thursday the 12th of December, we were all at the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in the heart of Brussels to celebrate a requiem mass for Nelson Mandela.
It was a deeply moving experience officiated bygd Canon Dr. Robert Innes while Bishop Jean Kockerols served as host. The event was attended bygd members of the diplomatic community and other personalities from the world of business and industry. Her Excellency Ms. Joelle Milquet, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs and lika Opportunities of the Federal Government of Belgium represented the host state. The European Union was represented by Mr. Peteris Ustubs, who spoke on behalf of the High Representative and Vice-President of the EU, Baroness Catherine Ashton of Upholland.
Several speeches were made in tribute to Mandela. H. E. Ambassador Nkosi Mxolisi of South Africa described him as one of the greatest heroes of our time and the liberator of the people of South Africa. H. E.