Othello in European Culture

This volume argues that a focus on the European reception of represents an important contribution to critical work on the play. The chapters in this volume examine non-anglophone translations and performances, altertive ways of distinguishing between texts, adaptations and versions, as well as differing perspectives on questions of gender and race. Additiolly, a European perspective raises key political questions about power and representation in terms of who speaks for and about Othello, within a European context profoundly divided over questions of immigration, religious, ethnic, gender and sexual difference. The volume illustrates the ways in which has been not only a stimulus but also a challenge for European Shakespeares. It makes clear that the history of the play is inseparable from histories of race, religion and gender and that many engagements with the play have reinforced rather than challenged the social and political prejudices of the period. [Publisher's text]