Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad: A Study in Post-colonial Appropriations of Shakespeare

Abstract

The paper explores Munadhel Dawood’s Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad (2012) which is an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (1592). The paper argues that to better understand the significance of Dawood’s adaptation we need to situate it within the context of post-2003 Iraqi adaptations of world literature. More broadly, it is part of the way that postcolonial literature responds to the hegemony of the colonial culture. In this respect, the play can be seen as an attempt by the Iraqi culture to write back to the colonial cultures that took part in the 2003 war. More specifically, the play achieves this goal by integrating elements of Iraqi culture and tradition and, paradoxically, it attempts to set the terms for a dialogue with the colonial culture by highlighting various elements which that culture might find relevant.