Answers to the questions on "Shakespeare in the Bush "

     Pick from the past : Shakespeare In The Bush

                          

1) Select a quotation which (in your) view sums up the key point/s of the text. Copy it accurately and give the page reference. Explain, briefly, why this quote is so important for an understanding of the article/extract.

“Sometime,” concluded the old man, gathering his ragged toga about him,“you must tell us some more stories of your country. We, who are elder,  will instruct you in their true meaning, so that when you return to your own land your elders will see that you have not been sitting in the bush, but among those who know things and who have taught you wisdom.” (Page 12)

In this article written by Laura Bohannan , the quotation given above sums up the article and is important for understanding it. This is said by the village Elder , and it shows how the culture we came from affects the way we think , they started relating to their culture whilst listening to "hamlet" . Since Hamlet was written in the Shakesperean time the people had some confusion in understanding it , but they related the entire story to their cultural belief , and in the end it made sense. So here in the quote after listening to Bohannan's version of Hamlet they started relating it to their culture , changed the parts in the story and made it their own that is also why the village elder has told Bohannan to tell them more stories so that he can give the true meaning of the stories and Bohannan could go back and tell her people about it.

2) Summarize the basic argument of the article? (What is the author's point of writing this? What is their message?)

The main point that  Bohannan wanted the readers to know was the fact that a thing as simple as a book or a story could  be perceived in a totally different  way when taken to a different culture . Making it more simple ,  the elders started modified the story putting in their own cultural beliefs , yet in the end it made sense. What she thought was universal and would be accepted by these people wasn't true. In here cultural relativism comes in play . The same thing about marrying your dead brother's wife seems unaccepted in one culture while in the other culture it seems completely acceptable , and these types of situations were seen throughout the article .

3) Is there anything from your own experiences which can help you relate to this? Anytime something similar to this has happened to you?

For me , I have had no experience as such which I can relate, specially because the people with whom I normally get to meet and talk have similar cultural background  , but then its always a change when I tell people from different cultures , the stories and experiences I grew up with .