GLOBAL SHAKESPEARE: A CRITIQUE ON THE PRESENCE OF SHAKESPEARE IN THE MEDIA REPORTS OF PAKISTAN

Abstract

Shakespeare’s plays continue to be circulated on an immense scale in a variety of guises—as performances, translations, editions, and adaptations. In media reports, ready references are made to and from his works on a regular basis. Research has been carried out on the presence of Shakespeare in Pakistan. However, limited or no work has been carried out on the presence of Shakespeare in the media reports of Pakistan and the ways in which he is used to address modern-day Pakistani problems through his plays. Therefore, this paper focuses on the presence of Shakespeare in the media reports of Pakistan and probes into the ways in which he and his plays are used, and in what context. For this matter, popular, best-selling, and well-reputed newspapers are taken into account. This paper has taken into consideration Catherine Belsey’s Textual Analysis and Marshall McLuhan’s Media Theory for this paper.