Shakespeare in the Bush - Essay Example

Shakespeare in Bush “Shakespeare in Bush” is the story in which the tribesmen make the change her views about the single and universal interpretation of stories. Previously the writer believed that great literary works like Hamlet have some sort of universality in them and can be comprehended by people of different cultures with equal ease. But the old man of Tiv tribe, shows her that all stories are interpreted by people in the light o f their relevant worldview. Meaning in stories is comprehended only when they fit into the cultural schema of the people who read or listen to these stories.

The tribal head, in the end, points out that the story has some loopholes and advises her that they should get guidance from them or their own elders to make the story of Hamlet more meaningful. Laura, a professor of anthropology is living among the people an Africa tribe for some research project. The people there remained busy in their ceremonies while the writer spent time in reading Hamlet. The writer used to go to their huts and drank beer with them and talked to them. Once the old man of the tribe showed curiosity in the “ papers” read by the writer and asked them to tell the story she was reading.

The writer told them the story of the Hamlet and during the rendition of the story it dawned upon Laura that it was difficult to communicate some concepts to these tribesmen as the concepts of “ King” and “ ghost” were alien to them and they were satisfied instead with the their own terms like “ chief” and “ witch” to interpret these concepts. Although the writer knew that the use of these words may change the connotations of the story but she had no other way. Furthermore, Hamlet’s reaction at the remarriage of his mother was strange to them as in their culture it was a common practice and they saw no wickedness in Claudius’ acceding to throne and marrying Gertrude.

Old man also thought that Ophelia must have killed by Laertes as a result of some witchcraft and they were also surprised at the fact that Polonius did not reveal his identity while hiding behind the arras.The Old man without embarrassing the writer makes her realize that there were certain flaws in the story and she should take the advice of the elders of her community to access to the true meaning of the story. Thus in the end the writer comes to know that the idea of universality of literature is somewhat baseless as every culture has its own ways of interpretation of stories and there could be more than one meaning to a story like Hamlet.

ResponseIn this summary of Laura’s “ Shakespeare in the Bush” , I have pointed out that the idea of universality of interpretation is baseless and every culture has its own stories and they attach specific meaning to these stories according to their own way of life and customs. The writer felt herself in an embarrassing situation when she failed to get agreement of the tribesmen to her own version of the story. The simplicity of the tribesmen should not be taken as their lack of understanding of the happenings around the world.

They understand the things in their own way.