Hamba Kahle Mandela

The former President of South Africa passed away, and has been rightly remembered in glowing terms. Nelson Mandela was loved not only because he led the nation and the world, but mainly because he touched individuals and communities in their deepest hopes, fears and dreams. When you look at his interaction with the Muslim commmunity in South Africa, for example, he acknowledged and recognized their contribution in the country, their global fears and concerns with the War on Terror, and their sense of belonging to South Africa. He offered a leadership model marked by a deep spirit of generosity, a quality rarely found in leaders.

Revisiting the Early Modern - Shakespeare from the South

An interesting discussion on the Southern tip of Africa reflected on the meaning of the early modern by critically examining the reception and remaking of Shakespeare. It was a stimulating presentation by three doyens of Shakespeare from UCT, U of Stellenbosch and Wits. They did not go on about the value of Shakespeare for English, the world and South Africa's existential challenges. They were fun, challenging and interesting.

But as someone who has recently discovered Nassim Nicholas Taleb and his thoughts on all kinds of things, I was wondering if the the absence of Shakespeare in South Africa should be our starting point. Despite its dominant role in the school syllabus, Shakespeare is generally ignore. I do not know if Shakespeare is read as regularly in schools as it was in my time, but Shakespeare seems to have disappeared from my life as soon as I matriculated. I sometimes felt a bit guilty that I did not know him as well as my erudite colleagues.

But the point is. Should we start our thinking about the (early) modern from a South African perspective about how Shakespeare is re-defined, re-created and re-cast. Should we rather not start with his absence among most South Africa, in spite of years of curriculum design.