Intermedial representations in Asian Macbeth-s

Abstract

In her article "Intermedial representations in Asian Macbeth-s" I-Chun Wang discusses three Asian versions of Macbeths that exemplify the cultural meanings through the interaction of landscape, body, and spectacles of power. Shakespeare remains one of the most popular playwrights in the Eastern world, and playwrights in the Asian world find Shakespearean plays attractive to the Asian audience. Among Shakespearean plays, Macbeth fascinates its Asian audience with its theme on kingship, territory of social relationships as well as moral and emotional development. These adaptations oftentimes become cross-cultural reproductions because each adapted text manifests not only cross-cultural interpretations but also highlights the ways that Shakespeare is read by audiences in other cultures. By probing into the meanings of spectacle and symbolic representations of landscape, I-Chun Wang analyzes how Asian directors, such as Akira Kurosawa, Vishal Bharadwaj, and Xing-guo Wu highlight cultural meanings of power struggle and territory through intermediality. © Purdue University.