Pedagogical Turns in Teaching Shakespearean Studies: A Theoretical Retrospective

Abstract

The paper is a retrospective of pedagogical praxis regarding the perception and reception of Shakespearean texts in a Pakistani English Literature classroom. We are positing a consideration of these moments from within our current positionality in a Higher Education Institution, as well as within the debate on the value and role of Shakespearean Texts in the 21st Century. The paper documents the pedagogical and critical theoretical perspectives as a way of historically tracing out the necessity for an interdisciplinary English department to allow for new interpretive frames through the consideration of genre, culture, form and adaptations. By understanding the evolving pedagogical and theoretical turns in the study and teaching of Shakespearean texts, we can not only the de-mythologize Shakespeare, but also promote a more critically reflexive pedagogical practice highlighting the role of Humanities through the use of adaptations, popular culture materials, and performance based classroom praxis.