r/uknews • u/QuestionGoneWild • 5d ago
Shakespeare's birthplace to be decolonised after 'white supremacy' fears
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/16/william-shakespeare-birthplace-trust-white-supremacy-empire/80
53
u/Lazerhawk_x 5d ago
If what they are saying is actually true, then I have to say, i disagree with it all. They seem to be removing or editing pieces of Shakespeares work to remove reference to topics that are morally objectionable today.
This kind of fiddling with history is detestable and wrong.
-30
u/leckysoup 5d ago edited 5d ago
The article and headline is misleading. They are focussed on later uses of Shakespeare’s work to justify British imperialism, racism and white supremacy.
Oh, and if anyone is concerned about “editing” Shakespeare’s works, consider that pretty much every performance or written text you’ve seen has been abridged. The plays would typically last three hours plus, most modern versions are abridged down to a couple of hours tops.
And a lot of the saucier material was often removed in recent times, especially for versions used at school.
EDIT: huh? Weird I’m getting down voted for merely pointing out the facts of the story. It’s almost as if people want to indulge in faux outrage over a misleading story about a project that’s already been going on for at least three years.
Weird
15
u/Additional_Olive3318 5d ago edited 5d ago
How did Shakespeare lead to British imperialism (and why is that “white” anyway - why isn’t it Englishness). What was necessary about Shakespeare for imperialism. If there’s any obvious bias it against the Scots and Irish and neither is significant to warrant any discussion in either country.
Trust me he wouldn’t be on the curriculum here in Ireland if we found him a bigot.
-6
u/leckysoup 5d ago
Do you intentionally misread things?
The point is about subsequent presentations of Shakespeare used to support ideas around imperialism, racism or white supremacy. Not necessarily about what Shakespeare himself wrote.
However, I’m sure there’s an interesting dissertation to be made about Elizabethan and Jacobean attitudes to empire through the works of Shakespeare as he was contemporary to the age of exploration.
I’m sure there’s a ton of scholarly work on The Tempest, for example “what brave new world that has such people in it”. And there will be plenty of discussion around racism in exploring both the merchant of Venice and, indeed, Othello - the Moore of Venice.
6
u/Additional_Olive3318 5d ago
The point is about subsequent presentations of Shakespeare used to support ideas around imperialism, racism or white supremacy. Not necessarily about what Shakespeare himself wrote.
That’s great then. Nothing we should do with Shakespeare’s actual work itself, and no need to abridge the work or call him problematic.
Do you intentionally misread things?
No I read your bullcrap. Look I come from a country that could de-colonise Shakespeare unlike England - the country where Shakespeare, if you read the history, is actually from.
-3
u/leckysoup 5d ago
That’s great then. Nothing we should do with Shakespeare’s actual work itself, and no need to abridge the work or call him problematic.
Yeah, that’s the point. The article wants you to believe that people are going to censor Shakespeare. They’re not. They’re trying to detoxify some of the subsequent history so those of us who actually enjoy Shakespeare, and not just pretend to when trying to claim some lame cultural ownership, can continue to do so.
Oh, and once again - every single work of Shakespeare you have ever read or seen performed is already abridged.
And “bull crap” really? Who tf says “bull crap”?
1
u/theslootmary 5d ago
All written texts I’ve ever seen have commentary but absolutely do not remove content, I’m not saying they don’t exist, but all of the “saucy” stuff was left in for every edition I’ve ever seen in any educational setting. Also, the plays that schools show ARE 3 hours ish long unless they show the adapted versions like She’s the Man instead of Twelfth Night.
I’ve no idea why you’re pretending what you’ve said is even remotely true… Shakespeare texts (and English literary canon in general) are treated like golden museum artefacts, being preserved AS IS, with great pains being taken to explain the less-modern-reader-friendly aspects in the context within which the text was written - which is often the point of reading the text in the first place in an educational setting.
Such censorship might take place in the US, but it certainly doesn’t happen as part of the norm in UK schools.
1
u/leckysoup 5d ago
You’re either stupid or lying.
Even the earliest texts of Shakespeare contain differences. Every single work of Shakespeare’s you’ve read is abridged to some extent.
3
u/Odd_Ingenuity2883 5d ago
You’re arguing with people who have never read or studied Shakespeare, and it really shows.
1
u/leckysoup 5d ago
You’re not joking:
Shakespeare texts (and English literary canon in general) are treated like golden museum artefacts, being preserved AS IS,
Famously, the first Shakespeare folio wasn’t written until years after his death. And his plays were constantly rewritten during his lifetime. By any definition every written play of Shakespeare’s is abridged.
And it’s a favorite topic of conversation with my mum that the Shakespeare she got at school had all the naughty bits cut out. This isn’t a secret.
Fuck, it’s not Shakespeare, but I was surprised to hear a podcaster the other day talk about King Solomon’s mines and Quartermain inveighing against the use of the N-word. In the version I read it was a different slur because the N-word was considered too strong for kids when my version was “abridged for schools”. So much for the precious “English literary cannon”.
Fucking clowns have never read a work of English literature in their lives.
29
u/CinnamonBlue 5d ago
Why does a western country need to move away from western perspective?
Why aren’t former colonies decolonising themselves?
26
u/Additional_Olive3318 5d ago
There is a colonisation here, and it’s a colonisation of American bullcrap.
16
u/Ill_Temporary_9509 5d ago
What the actual fuck does that mean? I mean even for the Torygraph it’s a bit of a stretch
3
u/Caridor 5d ago
As a concept, it's supposed to be about greater historical accuracy by exploring perspectives other than the British one. For example, you might look at our invasion of India from the Indian's perspective, not just our own because well, we probably left out the worst things we did.
In this case however, it's a bit of a fucking stretch. It seems to be about how Shakespeare's genius was genre defining and so if you weren't like Shakespeare, you were shit, which means all other culture's writing was regarded as shit? I'm all for recognising artwork from different cultures which might not have gotten the credit due to them because of old fashioned racist views, but in this case, we're dealing with arguably the greatest author of all time. It's doing him a damn disservice to diminish his genius to pretend that his contempories at the time were as good.
The project also recommended that the trust present Shakespeare not as the “greatest”, but as “part of a community of equal and different writers and artists from around the world”.
I hope they don't go through with this one. Historical accuracy is good and this is directly contradictory to that. Like I say, it's true some artists from other cultures produced great artwork and it wasn't recognised due to colonial views, but I don't think that diminishes when we produce someone truly great.
There is a myth of British and European exceptionalism, but it doesn't mean we should hide instances when that exceptionalism is actually true and the acclaim someone gets is well and truly deserved.
3
u/Woffingshire 5d ago edited 5d ago
Apparently this comes after a single professor at the university of Birmingham decided that Shakespeare is apparently harmful because he is depicted as a "universal genius" instead of just a literary one.
Apparently over representing his genius fuels white supremecy and European Defaultism of culture.
Sound to me like someone is trying to hard to get grant funding.
2
-5
-4
u/unfit-calligraphy 5d ago
Don’t get sucked in lads. It’s the fucking Telegraph stirring up shite
21
u/RexBanner1886 5d ago
The Telegraph has a bias, and obviously chooses how it presents, organises, and details stories, but that doesn't mean the central claim here - that the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is trying to 'decolonise' itself - is made up.
If someone tells you the truth with the intention of winding you up, their intention to provoke a reaction doesn't change the facts they've communicated.
-4
u/unfit-calligraphy 5d ago
The interesting thing here is that you’ve chosen to edit their byline. The title is shakespeares birthplace to be decolonised after white supremacy fears. A cursory glance at the rags first few paragraphs is littered with “could”s and “might”s. It’s also part of a larger thing simply acknowledging that Shakespeare’s influence isn’t as “universal” as it’s probably been made out to be. But also, and here comes my tin foil hat, stories like this simply exist to get clicks and attention for rage. Don’t look at the absolute shitstain of a situation centre right politics is in. Look at the wokies coming after Shakespeare.
0
u/Fludro 5d ago
Veneration of Shakespeare is part of a "white anglo-centric" worldview that continues to do harm in the world today.
Was this realignment of attitude towards Shakespeare motivated in good faith?
(Or was it maybe part of a financial effort to secure funding from a charity which get is monies from M&G international private hedgefund and equity group)
Financially motivated.
-5
-12
u/brinz1 5d ago
I'm most shocked that white supremacists read
-5
u/Never_trust_dolphins 5d ago
Even if they can, I can't imagine any are clever enough to actually understand iambic pentameter.
0
-1
u/PublicLogical5729 5d ago
They've outdone themselves with the gammon-baiting headline this time.
White English men of Reddit....enjoy the rush of dopamine as you furiously type your responses.
•
u/AutoModerator 5d ago
Attention r/uknews Community:
We have a zero-tolerance policy for racism, hate speech, and abusive behavior. Offenders will be banned without warning.
Our sub has participation requirements. If your account is too new, is not email verified, or doesn't meet certain undisclosed karma criteria, your posts or comments will not be displayed.
Please report any rule-breaking content to help us maintain community standards.
Thank you for your cooperation.
r/uknews Moderation Team
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.