The literary program of the 38th Grad Teatar festival continued last night at Poets' Square with the guest appearance of Petra Bjelica, who gave a lecture entitled "Shakespeare in Budva – the meeting of the local and the global".
This event particularly highlighted the possibilities of new stagings of Shakespeare's works, connecting them with the first visit of the International Shakespeare Festival from York, which performed the plays "The Epiphany Night", "As You Like It" and "Macbeth" at this year's festival.
Bjelica started the lecture by explaining to the audience why Shakespeare is a global phenomenon.
"His works have not only shaped English literature, but have become part of the global cultural heritage, and Shakespeare is an author whose plays are imbued with imaginations of distant cultures and worlds, which may be one of the reasons why they become relevant on the global scene. Already during his lifetime, his plays were performed not only in England, but also throughout the European continent, and later spread to the most distant parts of the world.For example, as early as 1619, Shakespeare's plays were performed in colonial Indonesia, which is a testimony to his global influence. influence. Even imaginary worlds like Illyria, and we will see whether Illyria is an imaginary world or not, which he created in his works, found their place in the collective consciousness around the world. From the late 16th century onwards, his plays are continuous translated, criticized and performed in different cultures, where they were adapted to the local needs of the audience, changed, reshaped and thus survived through all these centuries", she said, after which she posed the question of what authentic Shakespeare actually is, to which answered through the concepts of adaptation and appropriation.
"Shakespeare adaptations would be processes in which the original work is adapted to some new medium or format, while trying to retain the basic story, basic characters and thematic elements. In this sense, the goal of adaptation is to transfer the work to a new context, often for a wider audience, be it film, theater, radio or even video games.On the other hand, appropriation, or as the word itself suggests, a kind of appropriation, implies the reinterpretation and reshaping of certain elements from the original work in a new context often highly ideologically or politically tinged and intended to illuminate, criticize, or remake the original message of the work. Thus, appropriation does not necessarily retain all aspects of the original work and may significantly transform or change its main meaningful message. For example, postmodern artists often use classical motifs in a contemporary context, creating new works of art or parodies that reformulate familiar stories and characters to comment on and critique the original theme. Thus, while adaptation seeks to preserve the original spirit of the work, appropriation plays with its meaning, creating something completely new. These two processes, although different, contribute to the preservation and evolution of Shakespeare's works, ensuring that they remain relevant and alive throughout the ages," she said.
During the evening, Bjelica showed the audience numerous photos from various performances of Shakespeare from many parts of the world and explained why Shakespeare is still so popular and remains the most performed author on all stages of the world.
"Many critics and authors, including some of my colleagues, answer that question simply: Shakespeare is a brand. And, to be honest, he sells best. In that sense, that may be one of the reasons, but of course, that does not diminish his The standard answer is that it has an unsurpassed aesthetic quality and the universality of its themes. Is there an ideological, political and economic aspect to it? So where does the myth of Shakespeare come from? in order to better understand the significance of global Shakespeare, we must look back at the logic of the cultural production and consumption of those myths, which are often expressed through some journalistic a priori enthusiasm for Shakespeare, propagating and prolonging that myth. The myth of universality is based on a discursive concept that implies that the same story has an unchanging meaning for different cultures, suggesting that Shakespeare's plays are always relevant in the same way in the aesthetic, moral and political sense," adds Bjelica.
Speaking about Illyria and the Balkans, Bjelica said that Illyria, as an older name for some parts of the Balkans, was undoubtedly under the direct influence of Mediterranean culture, while still retaining its cultural differences.
"Lea Puljcan Đurić's study of Illyria in Shakespeare's time offers a detailed overview of the relationship between the playwright and the Balkan area, convincingly criticizing the dominant view of Illyria as terra incognita in Renaissance studies. In the usual representation of Illyria in Shakespeare's time, we can trace the historical continuity of the conceptualization of the modern Balkans as the other, As Đurić shows, Shakespearean scholars often mistakenly assume Mediterranean Illyria as a vaguely defined mythical land, a mysterious and enigmatic realm, in which rooted cultural hierarchies are associated with ignorance, elitism and colonial politics that have shaped our analyzes of 'Epiphany Night' '. Pointing out that modern regimes of knowledge about the Balkan territories are very influential in contemporary Renaissance studies, she identifies three practices in the representation of Illyria: erasure, marginalization and negative distortion. And more importantly, therefore, she connects Shakespeare's England, Illyria and the modern Balkans. , she ordered.
During the evening, a short film "Shakespeare making of" was shown, which was created during the three-day hosting of the International Shakespeare Festival from York and the plays "Epiphany Night", "As You Like It" and "Macbeth" performed at this year's festival.
After the screening of the film, Bjelica talked to the audience about their impressions after watching the aforementioned plays. Bjelica, following up on the performances of the International Shakespeare Festival from York, said that one thing stood out to her as very interesting, and that was the fact that the performances were performed on the stage between the churches.
"We have both a Catholic and an Orthodox church, and in that sense, especially when it comes to 'Epiphany Night', if we analyze that space which, whether we like it or not, carries with it a certain meaning, there really is a meeting of the global and the local. The space between the churches becomes a place where, in the true Andrić sense, the Balkans become a place of meeting and intersection. It is not just a bridge, but a space rich in meanings, but not in a negative sense as it is often perceived, but as a place where coexistence of different religions and identities can exist, and still exists today .With all these cats and sounds that are ours and should be accepted as such, it corresponds to the way Shakespeare treats religion, in a very heterodox sense. There are different interpretations of whether Shakespeare's work dominantly Protestant or Catholic oriented, but the latest studies actually talk about heterodox spirituality or spirituality".
The evening ended with Bjelica reading a quote from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in English and Serbian, after which she answered additional questions from the audience.
Bonus video:
