Archive CERDÁ Juan F.
The Annals of Ovidius University Constanţa no.22 / 2011 vol.1
CERDÁ JUAN F. - Recurring Elements of The Macbeth Mythos (pag. 49-56)
This article starts off from a distinction between an Aristotelian and a semiotic understanding of art to analyse the lines of continuity between a sourcetext and its adaptations. Thus, it contrasts Shakespeare’s Macbeth to Ángel-Luis Pujante’s Spanish translation of the play, to Welcome Msomi’s stage adaptation (uMabatha), and to two film adaptations by Akira Kurosawa (Kumonos jô) and Billy Morrissette (Scotland, PA), to examine the persistence of the mythos (or Aristotelian plot) in the adaptation process and question the extent to which the Shakespearean play is still available if the sourcetext is effaced. It explores the mechanisms of repetition/reproduction and difference/transformation of the adaptation process, and defends a relationship of cultural co-dependency between sourcetext and adaptation.
The Annals of Ovidius University Constanţa no.20 / 2009
CERDÁ JUAN F. - Malleable Shakespeare : Reformulating Schechner’s Efficacy-Entertainment Braid (pag. 181-188)
In his book from 1988, Performance Theory, Richard Schechner described performance as a dialectical negotiation of two axes functioning as poles of a continuum. This ‘basic polarity’, which Schechner termed the efficacy-entertainment braid, is epitomised in medieval cycle plays, church rituals and court ceremonies (efficacy pole) and bards, troubadours and fairs (entertainment pole). While Schechner privileged aspects closer to the efficacy pole as responsible for a play’s universality, this paper oppositely suggests a balanced distribution of performative elements in the efficacy and the entertainment axes both to move away from the notion of universality and to account for at least part of Shakespeare’s dramatic potential to appeal audiences through consecutive historical scenarios. Thus, by using examples from Titus Andronicus and The Comedy of Errors, this essay illustrates how Shakespeare’s dramatic malleability can be seen to emerge from both poles of Schechner’s braid.