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Filza Cyril Das

Dr. Waseem Amwar

ENG 510

19th April 2017

Hamlet: Plagiarism or Transculturation?

There are no original ideas. There are only original people. (Barbara Grizzutti

Harrison)

Transculture can be defined, if one is required to define, in two ways. The dictionary

meaning provided by Merriam Webster is, involving, encompassing, or extending across two or

more cultures (Merriam Webster). The other meaning that is often understood, especially in the

world of academia, is the transcendation of anything beyond the boundaries of cultures. Both

these meanings can often be seen to operate when dealing with literature through the lens of

transculturation. when looking at this word transculture, one must not forget the merging of the

two words trans- and culture. Cultural values and identities of one culture can be constructed

in another culture. In the words of Mark Twain,

There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas
and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and
curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they
are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages. (Mark
Twains Autobiography).
The originality of any idea, then becomes, a myth in the light of these words. One can take any

idea which appears in our minds when we come in contact and perceive something that already

existed but was unknown to us. The discovery of an already existing thought, element or idea,

then, cannot be termed as an original or new. This is not original but something that became

known to you. These notions and concepts are then taken over by authors and writers belonging

from diverse and varying cultures. So, keeping in mind Mark Twains words, it is quite possible
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to construct the notion that Shakespeare was not a practitioner of plagiarism but that of

transculturation.

Hamlet is the anachronized version of the German name Amleth. It may possibly

represent a version of the play in a transition stage, before Shakespeare had completely rewritten

the old Hamlet. (Hamlet 20). The character and the story resemblance stops at the superficial

level. But Shakespeare has managed, in my opinion, to take the idea from Danish folklore, and

has tinkered, played and molded it until it fit his imagination of the characters for his own drama.

He took an idea from the very heart of the Danish culture and made I into his own unique

creation. So much so, that the name of Shakespeare became synonymous with English and more

importantly British name. But if read and looked closely, there is very small amount of

Englishness to be found in the plays of Shakespeare. His characters, display qualities that are

humanistic and can be related to every human being regardless of their caste, creed, color,

culture or country. Indecisiveness is a dilemma that is faced by almost all of mankind. And that

can be a major reason, apart from the obvious reason of colonialism and one of its legacies, in

the popularity and relativity that the Shakespearean plays receives.

Transculturation then, becomes an instrument of departing knowledge and making the un-

known, known and the invisible, visible to the human mind and eye. Shakespeare can be

exempted from the charge of plagiarism in regards to his dramas simply because he is

producing literature that embodies the representation of the word transculturation.

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Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Penguin Popular Classic. 2001

Twain, Mark. The Autobiography of Mark Twain.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/843880-there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-new-idea-it

Grizzutti, Barbara Harrison. Brainy quotes.

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/barbaragri126375.html