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FEATURES melodramas in Turkish cinema, as well as the seemingly endless stream of serials broadcast nightly on most television stations. In determining how the plays would be approached, the group once again kept the learning outcomes in mind. The need to translate a text seemed less attractive when compared to the idea of creating new narratives inspired by the original text. Different groups chose one of the plays and devised a variety of approaches to adapting it. Some opted to sub-divide into groups of two or three, each charged with the responsibility of rewriting one act at a time; others worked in larger groups to adapt the play as a whole. The emphasis throughout was on negotiation: learners made their own decisions as to which characters to retain and which to omit, and whether the plots needed simplifying or not. My role, as an educator, was confined to that of a collaborator, offering feedback on the various drafts and subsequent rehearsals. The language of communication was left open. This particular course was literary, rather than translation-based, and learners were given the freedom to use either Turkish or English. What mattered was what they discussed in their group situations, and how it contributed to achieving the learning objectives. curtailed when the Nurse (Begüm) enters to ask whether she wants a cup of Turkish coffee before bed. According to the Nurse, this is essential as Juliet needs to have her fortune told before she can marry Paris. Juliet tries her utmost to put the Nurse off, while Romeo (Seçil) waits patiently below for her to return to the balcony. Eventually, Romeo and Juliet part, and Juliet returns to the Nurse, breathlessly urging her to 'forget the coffee'. In Juliet's view, her destiny has already been determined; she does not need anyone to read her coffee dregs. In spite of her family's objections, she will marry Romeo. Through this sequence, the learners tried to show how young women – especially those in over-protective families – often find it difficult to find any opportunities for selfexpression. This kind of experience is as important in the contemporary Republic of Turkey as it was in Shakespeare's time. Each group created a series of supporting materials designed to accompany their narratives – for example, a series of questions that might be asked to audiences (or other groups in the class), in order to prompt reflection on the themes of the plays: family, conflict, love and revenge. This scheme of work was inspired by the students' desire for professional development; if they became Shakespeare in Turkey All the learners shifted the plays' locations from Verona and Denmark to the Republic of Turkey. This decision was not only inspired by their cultural backgrounds but also by their knowledge of the conventions of Turkish film and television melodramas. They wanted to show that they could adapt these conventions into a dramatic form that had something to say both to themselves, as performers, and to the audiences witnessing their performances. One example will serve to illustrate the kind of creative work the students produced: a group of four girls (Seçil, Hande, Begüm and Hazal) rewrote the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet. 'You are more beautiful than the morning sun. You are more beautiful than the stars at night', simpers Juliet (Hazal) in Act II, Scene i. But her enjoyment is abruptly Vol/52 No/4 2013 Tradaptation This process of transforming the Shakespearean text might be described as 'tradaptive' in the sense that canonical texts are invested with new meanings designed to force the target culture to confront itself through exposure to the rewritten source text. Tradaptation involves processes of translation and adaptation that resist distinctions between the two. According to locally-constructed definitions, the learners created an adaptation, not a translation, in which textual concerns mattered less than having the freedom to create new versions of the Shakespearean text. In truth, however, such value-judgments hardly mattered: learners used their narratives to embark on a process of personal adaptation; in other words, developing their abilities. They used their experience of Shakespeare to develop skills such as selfreliance, collaborative organisational thinking, negotiation and decision-making. There are certain criticisms that might be levelled at this kind of course. Literature teachers might argue, with some justification, that it fails to develop students' critical and analytical skills. However, I would counter that all language-based courses should help develop transferable abilities such as empathy, sensitivity to difference and collaboration. Unless courses are structured in this way, they risk being reduced to a series of academic hurdles that learners have to pass in pursuit of academic qualifications. I contend that they need to discover how the ideas discussed in Shakespeare – as with any great author – have intrinsic value to their own lives. This article is based on Laurence Raw's chapter 'Bridging the Translation/Adaptation Divide' in Translation and Adaptation in Theatre and Film, edited by Katja Krebs (Routledge, 2013). © GUTO MUNIZ INSPIRING: 'Romeo & Juliet' has been adapted in many ways, including this Brazilian circus interpretation Family rivalry forms the subject of innumerable popular melodramas in Turkey educators in the future and took their learners to a theatrical performance, how could they demonstrate that the experiences of Shakespeare's characters were similar to their own? Notes 1 Dewey, J, 1934, Art as Experience, Minton, Balch and Company, New York, 65 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER The Linguist 27