Once feared as terrifying symbols of the supernatural, vampires have evolved into complex figures of existential conflict in both Western and Japanese media. In North American fiction, they are often portrayed as morally conflicted beings who grapple with blood rejection, desire and restraint. This article argues that such motifs have significantly influenced Japanese manga and anime, where vampire-like figures and hybrid creatures – such as ghouls – reflect similar ethical and alimentary tensions. Drawing on a literature-based, hermeneutic approach, the article explores the transnational and intertextual exchange that shapes these portrayals, focusing particularly on how core themes from Western vampire fiction inform the construction of morally ambivalent, hybrid identities in Japanese narratives. The paper is structured in three parts: first, it surveys the evolution of the vampire myth and classical works, to then further explore key North American works—Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire (1976) and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga (2005–2008)—with an emphasis on feeding restraint. The third part analyzes Japanese reinterpretations, taking Tokyo Ghoul (2014–2018) as a central case study. Through the figure of Kaneki Ken, the series dramatizes the struggle between monstrous appetite and moral agency. Additional examples from other anime extend the intertextual scope of the analysis. The perspective followed is mostly intertextual, not empirical or fully comparative, a limitation that is acknowledged while inviting directions for future research.
En este artículo introductorio se aborda el estudio de la adaptación audiovisual y escénica del teatro europeo de los siglos XVI y XVII desde la perspectiva del denominado “giro archivístico”. Partiendo de una concepción ampliada del archivo, entendido no solo como repositorio documental sino también como objeto de estudio y como práctica creativa, el trabajo examina cómo los archivos condicionan, preservan y reactivan la memoria cultural de un legado teatral considerado como efímero en su puesta en escena. La introducción contextualiza el número monográfico dentro del marco de estudios teatrales, cinematográficos y audiovisuales contemporáneos, y subraya la relevancia de la intermedialidad, la transmedialidad y la remediación en la transmisión de este patrimonio. Asimismo, se plantea el archivo como espacio de disputa ideológica, capaz de visibilizar procesos de censura, dinámicas de poder y voces subalternas tradicionalmente marginadas por el canon. A través de la presentación de las contribuciones que componen el volumen, el artículo muestra la diversidad metodológica y geográfica de los estudios reunidos, que abarcan desde archivos franquistas y bases de datos postcoloniales hasta adaptaciones musicales, televisivas y cinematográficas. En conjunto, se defiende una concepción del archivo como herramienta para repensar la justicia, la traducción, los derechos lingüísticos y la creación contemporánea a partir del teatro de la Edad Moderna.
Shakespeare’s works have a rich critical history of reception, adaptation and reinterpretation across diverse musical idioms and contexts (Sanders 2007; Hansen 2010; Teague 2011; Severn, 2018; Wilson and Cooke 2022). This paper examines Giulietta e Romeo (2007), an Italian musical adaptation by Riccardo Cocciante, which has received limited critical attention (Paravano 2018). As a case study, the production serves as a compelling example of the challenges inherent in adapting canonical works, illustrating the risks of innovation when emotional impact and creative execution fall short. Drawing on critical studies in intermediality and adaptation theory (Desmet 2014; Fazel and Geddes 2017, 2021; Lanier 2014, 2017, 2022), this paper evaluates the difficulties of reinterpreting one of Shakespeare’s most iconic tragedies for the third millennium. Additionally, employing Lanier’s rhizomatic model (2014), it explores how Cocciante’s adaptation offers a novel perspective on Romeo and Juliet by emphasising its Italian essence. While rooted in Shakespeare’s text, the production also engages with the play’s Italian sources and the country’s rich cultural and musical heritage. As this analysis will show, despite its attempt to shed new light on the story of the lovers from Verona, Cocciante’s adaptation faces two significant limitations, particularly when compared to previous musical reinterpretations. First, its hybrid opera popolare (popular opera) format struggles to capture either the sophistication of opera or the dynamism of contemporary musicals. Second, its deviations from Shakespeare’s original plot further complicate its effectiveness as an adaptation.
The present article discusses the representation of female subaltern characters in a highly influential Hungarian theatrical adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth from 2018, directed by Rémusz Szikszai at Jászai Mari Theatre, Tatabánya, and Szkéné Theatre, Budapest, Hungary. The article focuses on the representation of women, taking a closer look at the portrayal of Lady Macbeth and two of the Weird Sisters (the third Sister is a male role in the production). Within the theoretical context of subalternity and social justice, the study will examine whether the production challenges or confirms traditional representations of female characters. The production will be used as a case study to investigate the mechanisms through which the subaltern female can attain agency and representation. It will be demonstrated how the re/presentation of women in the adaptation cuts across almost all boundaries imaginable, including the animal/human, male/female, living/dead, and natural/supernatural divide. The performance indicates, perhaps unintentionally, that women can only be empowered if they are willing to cross these boundaries. On closer inspection, however, the female characters of the adaptation are relegated to established patriarchal tropes, as they are clearly categorised as nuns, whores, mothers/anti-mothers, wives, witches, or madwomen. Although many layers of subalternity (including racial, political, and cultural) are well represented in the production, the gendered dimension remains underexplored.
This article starts with the hypothesis that a digital database of over one hundred Indian film adaptations and appropriations of Shakespeare’s plays across various Indian vernacular languages identifies appropriation strategies that significantly challenge and reshape the global understanding of Shakespeare. I argue that the analysis of such a database allows us to fully grasp how Shakespeare is transformed within postcolonial contexts. These transformations not only decenter the Western canon but also expose the unique adaptation practices in India, where the most frequently adapted plays differ notably from those in the anglophone tradition. Although scholarship on the postcolonial archive has gained importance with works like Achille Mbembe’s “The Power of the Archive and Its Limits” (2002) and Ann Laura Stoler’s Along the Archival Grain (2009), there remains a critical gap regarding the intersection of the postcolonial archive and Shakespearean adaptation. This research addresses this gap and demonstrates how postcolonial theory can expand our understanding of the archive as a dynamic space of resistance and cultural negotiation, since Indian film adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays often localize the plays, turning the archive into a site of reclamation. The first section of this article theorizes the colonial and postcolonial archive. The second section offers an analysis of the findings – including the most frequently adapted plays, the phenomenon of remakes, and the shifting treatment of Shakespeare from the colonial to the postcolonial period. Thus, this article offers new insights into the field of Global Shakespeare.
