UNCANNY MIMESIS: SHAKESPEARE AND BOTSWANA POLITICS IN 2014

Abstract

Shakespeare’s influence cannot be confined by subject, theme, spatial and/or temporal setting. His works transcend disciplines and geographical identity. He is a linguist; psychiatrist; political, social and economic commentator; and ecologist. Three thousand new words and phrases all first appeared in print in Shakespeare’s plays. Through Shylock’s resolve on three thousand ducats repayment, readers of The Merchant of Venice learn about the dangers of a cash nexus on human relations. The major tragedies and tragicomedies impart knowledge about politics at both national and family levels. Each of Julius Caesar, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello and Romeo and Juliet, touches on the important aspect of power dynamics in the private and public spheres. In view of the foregoing, this article considers some of the major political events in the build-up to the 2014 Botswana general elections and compares them to the political intrigue in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The study attempts a critical examination of the uncanny congruence between Julius Caesar’s experience and that of Gomolemo Motswaledi within their respective milieux. The discussion contends that there is some symbiotic relationship between literature and society worthy of reflection. Literature seems to feed from the society as much as it (literature) “is the precious lifeblood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life”, as John Milton puts in it Areopagitica (Stephen and Jonathan, 1991, p. 240).