The Changing Shakespearescape in Bangladesh

Abstract

The article examines the reception of Shakespeare in Bangladesh. It scans the theater scene and the academic presence of the bard to understand the now ambiguous presence of the author who inarguably enjoyed unquestioned canonicity for centuries. The cerebral exercise to recalibrate Shakespeare’s relevance to a contemporary audience through current theories is confined only to academia. However, in the last two decades, the official promotion of communicative language teaching that holds the Elizabethan author’s language falls short of being “authentic material” for local culture has marginalized Shakespeare in the syllabi of the English departments. The somewhat muted celebrations of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare in 2016 are indicative of such a change. There is an emerging trend in Theater departments, which receive occasional funding and patronage from different agencies, to indigenize Shakespeare. This article investigates the availability and mutability of Shakespeare in Bangladesh through translation, adaptation, performance, and digitization in the last fifty years to explore the changing attitudes towards the author. It will examine the acceptance and rejection of Shakespeare and its impact on our cultural imagination, primarily through the critical discourse produced in Bangladesh.