Shakespeare and the Visualization of Metaphor in Two Chinese Versions of Macbeth

Abstract

In his paper, "Shakespeare and the Visualization of Metaphor in Two Chinese Versions of Macbeth," Alexander Huang proposes that, in addition to political uses, visualization is an important dimension of cultural translations of Shakespeare. In recent studies, Shakespeare's global presence has been investigated from various perspectives of critical inquiry, especially with postcolonial theories and in East-West literary relations. Instead of faulting cultural imperialism or foregrounding political statements in theatre, Huang explores the visual dimension of cultural translation found in Kingdom of Desire (a Beijing opera adaptation of Macbeth) and Story of the Bloody Hand (a Kunqu opera appropriation of the same play). Both adaptations re-write Shakespeare in visual terms and translate verbal metaphors by stylization and initiating the development of new appropriative modes and performing idioms. Metaphors encoded in verbal messages are transformed into visual signs in temporal-spatial terms. Thus, both productions foreground the visual nature of the metaphors, especially the color red.