Shakespeare in the Bush
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What problems did Bohannan encounter as she told the story of Hamlet to the Tiv?
The problem she encountered when she was telling the story was the comments of the elders. As she was trying to formulate her thoughts/ analyses on the story, the elders kept on commenting what they thought was right, and what they think as the truth about the story. Therefore, she had a hard time explaining the story in the way she wanted and liked.
“There was a murmur of applause. Hamlet was again a good story to them, but it no longer seemed quite the same story to me. As I thought over the coming complications of plot and motive, I lost courage and decided to skim over dangerous ground quickly.” -taken from Shakespeare in the Bush by Laura Bohannan
We could say that in this part of the story, she had a hard time explaining the book the way she wanted it. That is why she had to avoid those hard-to-explain parts so she wouldn’t be questioned more.
Another problem she encountered while reading and telling the text was her opposing interpretation of the book, as compared to that of the elders. For her, the interpretation of the piece is universal—that there could only be one real and acceptable interpretation for it. But, as she was telling the story, the elders kept on voicing out their opinions, causing the author to take down notes and eventually question her own interpretation of the book.
“I stopped being a storyteller, took out my notebook and demanded to be told more about these two causes of madness. Even while they spoke and I jotted notes, I tried to calculate the effect of this new factor of the plot.” -taken from Shakespeare in the Bush by Laura Bohannan
In this part we could see that, because of the bothering comments of the elders, she started to question her knowledge of the book, that is why she took down notes and analyzed those new factors on the plot said by the Tiv.
To sum up, she had a hard time explaining the book
1. What problems did Bohannan encounter as she told the story of Hamlet to the Tiv?
The problem she encountered when she was telling the story was the comments of the elders. As she was trying to formulate her thoughts/ analyses on the story, the elders kept on commenting what they thought was right, and what they think as the truth about the story. Therefore, she had a hard time explaining the story in the way she wanted and liked.
“There was a murmur of applause. Hamlet was again a good story to them, but it no longer seemed quite the same story to me. As I thought over the coming complications of plot and motive, I lost courage and decided to skim over dangerous ground quickly.” -taken from Shakespeare in the Bush by Laura Bohannan
We could say that in this part of the story, she had a hard time explaining the book the way she wanted it. That is why she had to avoid those hard-to-explain parts so she wouldn’t be questioned more.
Another problem she encountered while reading and telling the text was her opposing interpretation of the book, as compared to that of the elders. For her, the interpretation of the piece is universal—that there could only be one real and acceptable interpretation for it. But, as she was telling the story, the elders kept on voicing out their opinions, causing the author to take down notes and eventually question her own interpretation of the book.
“I stopped being a storyteller, took out my notebook and demanded to be told more about these two causes of madness. Even while they spoke and I jotted notes, I tried to calculate the effect of this new factor of the plot.” -taken from Shakespeare in the Bush by Laura Bohannan
In this part we could see that, because of the bothering comments of the elders, she started to question her knowledge of the book, that is why she took down notes and analyzed those new factors on the plot said by the Tiv.
To sum up, she had a hard time explaining the book