An Examination of the the Simpsons' Adaptation of Hamlet

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 MA in English Language and Literature The Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

2 Assistant Professor of English Literature, The Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics Shiraz, University, Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

This research traces the changes made to Shakespeare’s Hamlet by The Simpsons which is a medium different from literature. In one part of The Simpsons, a TV series with global popularity, a short adaptation of Hamlet is presented. In this article, this series is examined to understand how the medium uses Hamlet to criticize the American life style. This study investigates the transition of canonical literature to popular culture and adopts an interdisciplinary perspective to search the interactions of literature and media. First off, the generic conventions of The Simpsons and the history of its characters will be explained, and then the questions posed by Linda Hutcheon in adaptation studies will be addressed. This research indicates that the adaptation of Hamlet in The Simpsons, on the one hand parodies the highbrow culture and canonical literature, and on the other hand criticizes the stereotypes of the American nuclear family through exaggerated humor. Cultural critics in the United States have critiqued The Simpsons' ideological content but in Iran, animations have rarely received critical attention. This article will investigate how The Simpsons have responded to high culture through double adaptation.

Keywords

References

BBC (1 June 2010). “Homer Simpson Named the Greatest TV Character”. 
 https://www.bbc.com/news/10102115 
During, Simon (2005). Cultural Studies. New York: Routledge.
Fiske, John (1989a). Reading the Popular. New York: Routledge. 
Fiske, John (1989b). Understanding Popular Culture. Reprint. New York: Routledge.
Gans, Herbert J (1974). Popular Culture and High Culture: An Analysis and Evaluation of Taste. New York: Basic Books, Inc.
Goltz, Wanja Matthias Freiherr, von der (2011). “Functions of Intertextuality and Intermediality in The Simpsons.”  Universität Duisburg-Essen, PhD dissertation.
Gray, Jonathan (2006). Watching with the Simpsons: Television, parody, and intertextuality. New York and Oxon: Routledge.
Gripsrud, Jostein (1989). “’High Culture’ Revisited.” Cultural Studie. (3)2, (94-207).
Harrington, C. Lee, and Denise D. Bielby (2001). “Constructing the Popular: Cultural Production and Consumption.” In C. Lee Harrington and Denise D. Bielby (Eds.), Popular Culture: Production and Consumption. Massachusetts and Oxford: Blackwell.
Henry, Matthew A. (2012). The Simpsons, Satire, and American Culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Howe, Irving (2004). “Notes on Mass Culture.” In Jeet Heer and Kent Worcester (Eds.), Arguing Comics: Literary Masters on a Popular Medium. Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi.
Hutcheon, Linda (2013). A Theory of Adaptation (2nd ed.). London and New York: Routledge.
Hutcheon, Linda (2000). A Theory of Parody: The Teachings of Twentieth-Century Art Forms (2nd ed). Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Jean, Al (2010). Commentary for “Tales from the Public Domain”. The Simpsons: The Complete Thirteenth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
Levine, Lawrence W. (2002). Highbrow/Lowbrow: The Emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
McDonald, John (21 June 2014). “Bard of Springfield: an Analysis of Four Shakesperean References in The Simpsons.” https://the-artifice.com/the-simpsons-shakespearean-references/
Montironi, Maria  Elisa (2012). “The  Simpsons’s Shakespeare:  Hamlet Today.  Possible  Meanings  and  Consequences  of  a  Parodic  Appropriation.” Between. 2(4). 1-15. 
  Öğütcü, Murat (2014). “Shakespeare in Animation.” In Deniz Bozer (Ed.), Shakespeare 450. Ankara: Bizim Büro.
Perlmutter, David (2014). America Toons In: A History of Television Animation. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers. 
Sanders, Julie (2006). Adaptation and Appropriation. Oxon: Routledge.
Scully, Mike (2010). Commentary for “Simpsons Bible Stories”. The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
Scully, Mike (2009).  Commentary for "Simpsons Tall Tales”. The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
“Tales from the Public Domain” )2002).  The Simpsons, created by Mat Groaning, season 13, episode 14, Fox Network.
The Telegraph (2010). “Homer Simpson named best film or TV character of past 20 years.”
www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/7792058/Homer-Simpson111named-best-film-or-TV-character-of-past-20-years.html. 
Tueth, Michael V. (2003). “Back to the Drawing Board: The Family in Animated Television Comedy.”  In Carol Stabile and Mark Harrison (Eds.). Prime Time Animation: Television Animation and American Culture. Oxon: Routledge.
Turner, Chris (2005). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. Massachusetts: Da Capo Press.
Interdisciplinary Studies of Literature, Arts and Humanities
Volume 1, Issue 2 - Serial Number 2
February 2022
Pages 145-172

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 28 December 2021
  • Revise Date: 12 January 2022
  • Accept Date: 19 January 2022

Share

How to cite

Statistics