Surveying the Afterlives of Shakespeare’s Poetry in Arden Shakespeare’s On Shakespeare’s Sonnets

Year 2021, Volume: 38 Issue: 2, 370 - 379, 15.12.2021

Özlem Özmen Akdoğan

https://doi.org/10.32600/huefd.849753

Abstract

The Arden Shakespeare published a poetry collection titled On Shakespeare’s Sonnets in 2016 in which several contemporary poets have responded to one Shakespearean sonnet of their choice. Most of the themes in the sonnets such as the transience of earthly life, the endurance of love, and the procreation of beauty are retained in their modern versions. However, recent approaches to these themes do not follow the sonnet tradition due to the poets’ adherence to modern topics, as seen in the poems of Douglas Dunn, Jackie Kay, and Andrew Motion, and an emphasis on realism instead of the romanticised exaggerations in the sonnet genre, as observed in the poems by Alan Jenkins, Carol Ann Duffy, and Elaine Feinstein. In some of these poems, love for the beloved, for instance, is treated alternatively as a temporary feeling that cannot endure the passing of time. The platonic ideal of love for the beloved is reconstituted with a mother’s compassion for her son. The idea of the procreation of beauty is replaced with an adoration of the regenerative power of nature. In some others, the influence of the contemporary context is evident with indications of urban images such as traffic, technology, and shopping malls. Through such examples, this paper aims to discuss some of the rewritten versions of Shakespeare’s sonnets to explore the idea that recontextualisation and subversion of the source text are central to the practice of Shakespearean adaptation despite the initial tenet of the production of this particular collection, which is to celebrate Shakespeare’s literary heritage.

Keywords

On Shakespeare’s Sonnets, The Arden Shakespeare, Douglas Dunn, Jackie Kay, Andrew Motion, Alan Jenkins, Carol Ann Duffy, Elaine Feinstein, adaptation

Arden Shakespeare'in On Shakespeare's Sonnets Eseri'nde Shakespeare'in Şiirlerinin Sonraki Hayatlarına Genel Bakış

Abstract

Arden Shakespeare Yayınları 2016 yılında bazı çağdaş şairlerin kendi seçtikleri bir Shakespeare sonesini yeniden yazarak katkıda bulundukları On Shakespeare’s Sonnets başlıklı bir şiir koleksiyonu yayımlamıştır. Sone geleneğinde gözlemlenen yaygın temalar olan bu dünyanın geçiciliği, aşkın kalıcılığı, güzelliğin türetilmesi gibi birçok konu bu yeni şiir versiyonlarında da kullanılmıştır. Ancak, Douglas Dunn, Jackie Kay ve Andrew Motion gibi çağdaş şairlerin modern konulara bağlılığının ve Alan Jenkins, Carol Ann Duffy ve Elaine Feinstein gibi şairlerin adaptasyonlarının sonelerde görülen romantik ve abartılı söylem yerine benzer temalara realist yaklaşımlarının gösterdiği üzere, bu çağdaş şiir adaptasyonları sone geleneğinden oldukça farklıdır. Örneğin, bu şiirlerden bazılarında sevgiliye duyulan ölümsüz aşk, zamana karşı direnemeyen geçici bir duygu olarak ele alınır. Platonik aşk ideali, bir annenin oğluna duyduğu sevgi ile yer değiştirir. Güzelliğin yeni kuşaklarla devam ettirilmesi teması, doğanın yenileyici gücüne olan hayranlık fikriyle yer değiştirir. Bazı örneklerde çağdaş yaşamın kaçınılmaz etkisi, trafik, teknoloji ve alışveriş merkezleri gibi şehirlilikle ilgili sembollerle hatırlatılır. Arden Shakespeare’in bu yayınla güttüğü amacın Shakespeare’in edebî mirasını kutlamak olduğu bilinmektedir. Bu makalenin amacı ise bu koleksiyondaki Shakespeare sonelerinin yeniden yazım örneklerinden bazılarını incelemek ve kaynak eserleri yeni bir bağlamda değerlendirmenin ve onlara yıkıcı bir biçimde yaklaşmanın Shakespeare adaptasyonlarında esas olduğunu tartışmaktır.

Keywords

On Shakespeare’s Sonnets, The Arden Shakespeare, Douglas Dunn, Jackie Kay, Andrew Motion, Alan Jenkins, Carol Ann Duffy, Elaine Feinstein, adaptasyon

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