Othello in European Culture

Published 2022.

This volume argues that a focus on the European reception of Othello represents an important contribution to critical work on the play. The chapters in this volume examine non-anglophone translations and performances, alternative ways of distinguishing between texts, adaptations, and versions, as well as differing perspectives on questions of gender and race. Additionally, 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 Othello has been not only a stimulus but also a challenge for European Shakespeare's. 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.