Echoes of Shakespeare: Intertextuality and Adaptation in Modern Postcolonial Drama

Abstract

This article examines the strategic appropriation and transformation of Shakespearean texts in modern postcolonial drama, arguing that postcolonial playwrights engage with Shakespeare not merely to challenge colonial cultural authority but to create new theatrical vocabularies capable of addressing contemporary political and cultural concerns. Drawing on theories of intertextuality, adaptation studies, and postcolonial criticism, this study analyses selected works by Aimé Césaire, Wole Soyinka, and Derek Walcott to investigate how these dramatists reimagine canonical Shakespearean plays from perspectives historically marginalized by colonial discourse. The research employs a qualitative textual analysis methodology, examining dramatic texts alongside performance documentation and scholarly interpretations. The findings reveal that postcolonial Shakespeare adaptations operate through multiple strategies: confrontational rewriting that explicitly challenges the source text's ideological assumptions; translocation that resituates Shakespearean narratives within postcolonial contexts; and synthetic integration that weaves Shakespearean elements into indigenous theatrical traditions. The article argues that these adaptations constitute acts of cultural reclamation that simultaneously acknowledge Shakespeare's global cultural authority and contest the colonial structures through which that authority was disseminated. This study contributes to ongoing scholarly conversations about world literature, theatrical adaptation, and the politics of canon formation in postcolonial contexts.