THE ADAPTATION OF KHAZ'AL AL-MAJIDI'S SEDRA: PERSONAL AND POLITICAL MOTIVES

Abstract

This study aims to scrutinize the political and personal motives inSedra, an adaptation of five plays by William Shakespeare:Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear and The Tempest.Moreover, the paper sheds light on the political and personal implications of the adaptation. The study is based on Linda Hutcheon's theory of adaptation, especially the journalistic questions 'Why'. Adaptation is a means of recreating and reproducing a literary work or works, such as plays, novels, short stories and performances to manipulate and preserve the informing source text. It is an engagement of the source(s)ata different time(s) and place(s) for different reasons to evoke personal and political changes and reflections. Accordingly, the study examines the personal and political motives and implications in an ancient Sumerian milieu. The paper concentrates on the techniques used by Khaz'al al-Majidi to expose his motives and how does he tackle the political and personal implication by backdating the setting of the play. The study also examines the personal and political reflections of al-Majid in the adaptation and how the adapter has used the cognitive,symbolic and rhetorical language to deliver the message and at the same time to avoid the dire political consequences of writing at the time of repression and tyranny.