The Afterlife of Shakespeare's Plays
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THE AFTERLIFE OF SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS: A STUDY OF CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATIONS INTO OPERA AND FILM by Suddhaseel Sen A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of English and the Collaborative Program in South Asian Studies University of Toronto © Copyright by Suddhaseel Sen (2010) Library and Archives Bibliothèque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-97766-8 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-97766-8 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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THE AFTERLIFE OF SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS: A STUDY OF CROSS- CULTURAL ADAPTATIONS INTO OPERA AND FILM Suddhaseel Sen Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of English and the Collaborative Program in South Asian Studies University of Toronto 2010 ABSTRACT This study considers the ways in which Shakespeare’s plays have been adapted in cross- cultural contexts from the nineteenth century to the present, specifically in Europe and India, through the media of opera and film. I bring into dialogue reception theory, adaptation studies, Shakespeare scholarship, musicology, film studies, and postcolonial theory in order to examine the mechanisms of Shakespeare’s reception in these two culturally diverse regions of the globe, and argue that there are significant parallels between European and Indian adaptations of Shakespeare. Despite the different cultural and political histories of the two regions, Shakespeare’s plays reached out to local audiences only when they were modified in order to make them relevant to the cultural and ideological concerns of the new audiences that were far removed from Shakespeare’s own. Moving away from understanding Shakespeare’s reception either in terms of the dramatist’s “universal appeal” or in terms of colonial instrumentality, as has usually been the case, I argue that such predetermined critical paradigms take away from what in Shakespeare various cultures have found truly valuable, truly affective. Moreover, I argue that the degree of transculturation, both with European and Indian adaptations, is greater when Shakespeare is adapted in media that involves performance, than when he is adapted in a purely verbal medium, such as translations. This process of indigenization through performance, one that I have termed “performative ii transculturation,” has opened up fresh avenues of cross-cultural exchange over the ages. The works I examine in detail are Ambroise Thomas’ opera Hamlet, Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Otello, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar’s Bhrantibilash, a prose adaptation of The Comedy of Errors, and Vishal Bhardwaj’s films Maqbool and Omkara, based on Macbeth and Othello respectively. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It was possible to work on my thesis because of a number of fellowships, awards, and travel grants – the Paul Foundation Award (India) for doctoral studies abroad, the University of Toronto Fellowship and Teaching Assistantship, Massey College Junior Fellowship, Sir Val Duncan Award (awarded by the Munk Center for International Studies at the University of Toronto), George C. Metcalf Research Grant (Victoria College of the University of Toronto), School of Graduate Studies (SGS) Travel Grant, University of Toronto Department of English Travel Grant, and the Massey College Travel Grant. I am deeply thankful to all these funding bodies, whose timely financial support made my research possible. I am also very grateful to the staff of the Toronto Public Library and libraries at the University of Toronto where I did most of my research work: Robarts (in particular, their interlibrary and audio- visual sections), St. Michael’s College, the Faculty of Music and, especially, Victoria College, where much of my thesis was written over succeeding summers. I cannot express in words how supportive my supervisory committee has been over the entire duration of my doctoral work. No sooner did I arrive in Toronto than I heard unanimous praise from all about the legendary scholarship, generosity, promptness, and support provided by Linda Hutcheon to all her students. As my dissertation supervisor, she was exemplary in her intellectual engagement and the personal encouragement she provided without fail all throughout these years. She is the kind of supervisor “as dreams are made on,” and it has been my privilege to learn from her what a difference it can make if one’s supervisor is intellectually stimulating, professionally supportive, and unfailingly kind. I am also immensely thankful to Jill Levenson, whose critical acuity and constant encouragement made it a pleasure for me to learn from her and benefit from her advice. Equally, Caryl Clark iv brought her vast musicological scholarship to guide my research, and my dissertation has been enriched in countless ways because of her feedback. They have also helped me, especially during my applications for travel and research grants, with a readiness and a sense of responsibility that taught me the myriad ways in which mentors can make a difference in the lives of their students. I am also very grateful to Lynne Magnusson, Deidre Lynch, and especially Daniel Fischlin, my external examiner, for their detailed feedback, and for questions and suggestions that have helped me conceive of new projects evolving from my dissertation. I have benefited immensely from the inputs of some other leading academicians and scholars during the course of my work on this dissertation: Sukanta Chaudhuri, Poonam Trivedi, and Kathryn Hansen for my work on Shakespeare in India; Roger Parker for my chapter on Verdi; and Jean Chothia for the introductory chapter. Many thanks are also due to Michael Hutcheon, Donna Orwin, Chelva Kanaganayakam, Neil ten Kortenaar, John D. Baird, and Mark Crimmins from the University of Toronto; Amlan Das Gupta, Supriya Chaudhuri, Malabika Sarkar, Indrani Halder, Swapan Chakravorty, Nilanjana Deb, and Abhijit Gupta from Jadavpur University; Sudeshna Chakraborty, who taught me and my fellow classmates how to read and love Shakespeare in school; Abraham Mazumder and Anita Hazra, whose wonderful teaching gifts made me fall in love with Western music; Gaurab Gupta for helping me in countless ways during my application process for doctoral studies abroad; Kishore Chatterjee, Aveek Sen, Indranil Poddar, and Satyabrata Datta for providing me much-needed recordings, librettos, and critical material when I was in India preparing my dissertation proposal; and Kajari Biswas for introducing me to the Shakespeare adaptations of Vishal Bhardwaj. Kathleen and Joseph O’Connell were instrumental in v bringing out my first peer-reviewed journal article in North America, and Mary McGeer brought to fruition a series of concerts related to my article: their collective support helped me to find a much-desired creative outlet for my academic work. My friends in Toronto, both within and outside the department, provided a solid bedrock of support: Pooja and Tarun, Rajit and Anjali, Sangram and Mahuya, Subrata and Jayashree, Jayita and Abhijit, Monali and Debesh, Srabani and Subho, Prasad and Shiela, Anindo, and Ghalib, I am truly thankful to all of you! A very special note of thanks to Alexander Rapoport, who not only let me audit his highly engaging classes at the Faculty of Music, but also became a much-loved mentor: he opened up several opportunities for creative work as a musician, and I shall always remember with special pleasure our discussions on life, music, and literature. I am also immensely indebted to two people who, alas, are no more with us. Douglas Brooks, who accepted an abridged version of my chapter on Ambroise Thomas’s Hamlet for publication in the Shakespeare Yearbook, shared my love for music, Shakespeare, and languages, and has been, so far, the only Shakespeare scholar with whom I could discuss Renaissance polyphony as well as aspects of editing Shakespeare in Hindi. Jiří Smrz, a dear friend whose knowledge of nineteenth-century opera and vocal music was second to none, made his rare collection of recordings freely available to me, including several that are not to be found in any university library in North America. A number of projects, such as studies of Shakespeare operas by Hermann Goetz and Zdeněk Fibich, which we planned to collaborate on, had to be abandoned due to his death, which was as sudden and untimely as Douglas’s, and I deeply miss them in this moment of happiness.