The influence of culture on adaptation: A comparative study of William Shakespeare’s Othello and Ahmed Yerima’s Otaelo

Abstract

It has been noticed that African dramatists enlarge as well as enrich their body of works through adaption. Culture which plays a key role in the adaptation process is sometimes not given considerable attention in related scholarly discourses. This work therefore investigated the influence of culture on adaptation using William Shakespeare’s Othello and Ahmed Yerima’s Otaelo as example. The study adopted the content analysis approach of the qualitative methodology. A comparative study of Othello and Otaelo was carried out in order to find out how culture influences the originality of an adapted work. Findings reveal that both the culture of the source material and that of the derivation influence adaptation. However, the originality of the new work is largely dependent on its successful transposition to a new cultural backdrop. This is exemplified in Ahmed Yerima’s Otaelo which is situated within the Igbo culture. The study recommends appropriate application of the principles of adaptation as underscored in Linda Hutcheon’s A Theory of Adaptation by indigenous adaptors in the process of indigenizing their works.
Ilukwe Preorcjah Vol. 10, 2025
103 Copyright @ Ezenwa-Ohaeto Resource Centre, Awka, Nigeria
Keywords: Influence, Culture, Adaptation, Indigenization, Transposition, Mutation