Main content

Eldred Jones

Professor Eldred Jones from Sierra Leone explains that Shakespeare took from Africa as much as Africa has taken from him.

As part of the Shakespeare Unlocked season on the 大象传媒, writers from Sierra Leone, Brazil, India, Iran and China explain why a playwright from sixteenth century Stratford resonates so powerfully in their own countries.
With Eldred Jones, Aimara Resende, Poonam Trivedi, Narguess Farzad and Yong Li Lan.

In this third essay Professor Eldred Jones explains that Shakespeare took from Africa as much as Africa has taken from him.

These essays explore Shakespeare's place on the global stage; with writers and scholars from around the world explaining his importance within their own culture. There are references to Hamlet and Othello in Iranian literature for example - as well as in African and Chinese works. Othello was first translated into Persian 170 years ago by a Persian prince because the themes of jealousy and honour struck a chord with the Iranian psyche. Authors the world over have recognised a profound affinity between Shakespeare's themes and their own traditional culture, be in it Chinese, Indian or African.

Available now

15 minutes

Broadcast

  • Wed 16 May 2012 22:45

Death in Trieste

Death in Trieste

A 1760s murder still informs ideas about aesthetics, a certain sort of sex, and death.

Watch: My Deaf World

Watch: My Deaf World

Five compelling experiences of what it is like to be deaf in 21st-century Britain.

The Book that Changed Me

Five figures from the arts and science introduce books that changed their lives and work.

Download The Essay

Download The Essay

Download all the episodes from the series and listen at your leisure.

Podcast