King Lear and Mao’s China, with Nan Z. Da

King Lear and Mao’s China, with Nan Z. Da

Nan Z. Da, in her book The Chinese Tragedy of King Lear, finds unsettling parallels between Shakespeare’s play and 20th-century China under Mao Zedong. Da, a literature professor at Johns Hopkins University, weaves together personal history and literary analysis to reveal how King Lear reflects—and even anticipates—the emotional and political horrors of authoritarian regimes. From public punishments to desperate displays of flattery, from state paranoia to family betrayal, she shows how Shakespeare’s tragedy resonates with the lived experiences of generations shaped by Maoism. She joins us to discuss the story of her family in Mao’s China and why Lear may be Shakespeare’s most “Chinese” play. Nan Z. Da is an associate professor of English at Johns Hopkins University. Prior to that, she taught for nine years at the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of Intransitive Encounters: Sino-US Literatures and the Limits of Exchange and co-editor of the Thinking Literature series.

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Shakespeare and his contemporaries, with Darren Freebury-Jones

Shakespeare and his contemporaries, with Darren Freebury-Jones

What does it mean to be called an “upstart crow”? In 1592, a pamphlet titled Greene’s groats-worth of witte described William Shakespeare, in the first allusion to him as a playwright, with this phras...

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Directing Romeo and Juliet, with Sam Gold

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The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV, with Helen Castor

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Studying Shakespeare Now

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Forget dusty textbooks and silent classrooms—the Folger Shakespeare Library has released new teaching guides designed to make the Bard’s works more engaging, accessible, and inclusive than ever before...

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Farah Karim-Cooper on The Great White Bard (Rebroadcast)

Farah Karim-Cooper on The Great White Bard (Rebroadcast)

Can you love Shakespeare and be an antiracist? Farah Karim-Cooper’s book The Great White Bard explores the language of race and difference in Shakespeare’s plays. Dr. Karim-Cooper also looks at the wa...

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How Shakespeare Revolutionized Tragedy, with Rhodri Lewis

How Shakespeare Revolutionized Tragedy, with Rhodri Lewis

Shakespeare is often associated with tragedy, but did you know that he changed the genre? In this episode, Rhodri Lewis, professor of English at Princeton University and author of Shakespeare’s Tragic...

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Tabitha Stanmore on Practical Magic in Shakespeare’s England

Tabitha Stanmore on Practical Magic in Shakespeare’s England

Forget witches, broomsticks, and cauldrons bubbling over—when it came to real magic in Shakespeare’s time, most people turned to their local cunning folk. These magical practitioners wielded spells to...

8 Loka 202430min

Will Tosh on the Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare

Will Tosh on the Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare

How did Shakespeare engage with the complexities of gender and sexuality in his time? Was his portrayal of cross-dressing and same-sex attraction simply for comedic effect, or did it reflect a deeper ...

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