“GOD BLESS THEE! THOU ART TRANSLATED!”: ON TWO BRAZILIAN TEMPESTS

It is at the crossing of ways, of traditions, of artistic practices that we can hope to grasp the distinct hybridization of cultures, and bring together the winding paths of anthropology, sociology and artistic practices. (Pavis, 1995:6) When attending a performance of a play of Shakespeare’s in countries such as Brazil, where the playwright is not part of national identity indicative of economic hegemony, one becomes aware of the possibilities his work opens to the most diverse readings and tends to think of Shakespeare as one among the many tokens of cultural identity that can be transposed and manipulated according to the needs of a certain socio-economic milieu at a certain moment and at a certain place. Chiefly as works for the theatre, which are necessarily political and temporal if considered as production, not as text only, translations and/or adaptations/appropriations of Shakespeare or any other grea