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For the past five decades, Arab intellectuals have seen themselves in Shakespeare's Hamlet: their times "out of joint," their political hopes frustrated by a corrupt older generation. <em>Hamlet's Arab Journey traces the uses of <em>Hamlet in Arabic theatre and political rhetoric, and asks how Shakespeare's play developed into a musical with a happy ending in 1901 and grew to become the most obsessively quoted literary work in Arab politics today. Explaining the Arab <em>Hamlet tradition, Margaret Litvin also illuminates the "to be or not to be" politics that have turned Shakespeare's tragedy into the essential Arab political text, cited by Arab liberals, nationalists, and Islamists alike. On the Arab stage, Hamlet has been an operetta hero, a firebrand revolutionary, and a muzzled dissident. Analyzing productions from Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Kuwait, Litvin follows the distinct phases of Hamlet's naturalization as an Arab. Her fine-grained theatre history uses personal interviews as well as scripts and videos, reviews, and detailed comparisons with French and Russian <em>Hamlets. The result shows Arab theatre in a new light. Litvin identifies the French source of the earliest Arabic <em>Hamlet, shows the outsize influence of Soviet and East European Shakespeare, and explores the deep cultural link between Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser and the ghost of Hamlet's father. Documenting how global sources and models helped nurture a distinct Arab <em>Hamlet tradition, <em>Hamlet's Arab Journey represents a new approach to the study of international Shakespeare appropriation.
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Hamlet’s Arab Journey SERIES EDITOR EMILY APTER A list of titles in the series appears at the back of the book. Margaret Litvin HAMLET’S ARAB JOURNEY Shakespeare’s Prince and Nasser’s Ghost Copyright © 2011 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW press.princeton.edu All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Litvin, Margaret, 1974– Hamlet’s Arab journey : Shakespeare’s prince and Nasser’s ghost / Margaret Litvin. p. cm. — (Translation/transnation) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-691-13780-3 (alk. paper) 1. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616. Hamlet. 2. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616— Appreciation—Arab countries. 3. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616—Translations into Arabic—History and criticism. 4. Hamlet (Legendary character) 5. Heroes in literature. 6. Politics in literature. 7. Egypt—Civilization—English influences. 8. Arabic drama—Egypt—History and criticism. 9. Arabic drama—20th century—History and criticism. I. Title. II. Series. PR2807.L63 2011 822.3'3—dc22 2011005331 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Adobe Caslon Pro Printed on acid-free paper. ∞ Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For Gary and Maria Litvin CONTENTS List of Illustrations Preface and Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration and Translation Introduction “When Shakespeare Travels Abroad” The Global Kaleidoscope Hamlet and Political Agency 1 Hamlet in the Daily Discourse of Arab Identity “Time Out of Joint”: Coming to Terms with History “Shall We Be or Not Be?”: Personifying the Group “Words, Words, Words”: Forging an Identity “The Play’s the Thing” 2 Nasser’s Dramatic Imagination, 1952–64 Revolutionary Drama Theatre Joins the Battle Shakespeare on the Sidelines 3 The Global Kaleidoscope: How Egyptians Got Their Hamlet, 1901–64 Beyond Caliban “Bend Again toward France” “Do It, England!” Independence and Soviet Shakespeare Bidayr’s “Cruel Text” 4 Hamletizing the Arab Muslim H