title: A cliff in Denmark: An adapturgical exploration of Hamlet

authors: Smith, James

abstract: The story of Hamlet is commonly attributed to William Shakespeare and has been adapted consistently by playwrights, poets, novelists, musicians, artists, and filmmakers since the Elizabethan playwright’s day. However, Shakespeare himself was an adaptor, with his Hamlet taking inspiration from Scandinavian and Icelandic histories. This research follows my own personal adaptation of the Hamlet narrative, using the characters, themes, and scenes as sources to draw from for the creation of a new play that uses Hamlet as the base of a palimpsestuous engagement. 

Through a series of workshops and rehearsals with two groups of actor/participants, I draw upon the images and ideas that are associated with Hamlet as ‘memes’ of the core Shakespearean text to write a 45-minute play. This play re-contextualises the Hamlet narrative to a 21st Century, New Zealand context, depicting a contemporary look at the depression and anxiety that can be read into the original character, and the way that the people in the character’s life affect the outcomes of the story.  

This process recognises the adapturgical (a portmanteau of adaptation and dramaturgy) tools which are useful while adapting and transforming a script like Hamlet into a contemporary context.

text: A cliff in Denmark: An adapturgical exploration of Hamlet The story of Hamlet is commonly attributed to William Shakespeare and has been adapted consistently by playwrights, poets, novelists, musicians, artists, and filmmakers since the Elizabethan playwright’s day. However, Shakespeare himself was an adaptor, with his Hamlet taking inspiration from Scandinavian and Icelandic histories. This research follows my own personal adaptation of the Hamlet narrative, using the characters, themes, and scenes as sources to draw from for the creation of a new play that uses Hamlet as the base of a palimpsestuous engagement. 

Through a series of workshops and rehearsals with two groups of actor/participants, I draw upon the images and ideas that are associated with Hamlet as ‘memes’ of the core Shakespearean text to write a 45-minute play. This play re-contextualises the Hamlet narrative to a 21st Century, New Zealand context, depicting a contemporary look at the depression and anxiety that can be read into the original character, and the way that the people in the character’s life affect the outcomes of the story.  

This process recognises the adapturgical (a portmanteau of adaptation and dramaturgy) tools which are useful while adapting and transforming a script like Hamlet into a contemporary context.

year: 2020

title: Teaching Languages to Young Learners:  Asian Rim Experiences

authors: Johnson, Diane

subjects: Young learners and second languages

abstract: A number of Asian countries have recently developed initiatives relating to the teaching of English to young learners in schools. Many of the issues that these countries are currently facing are very similar to the theoretical and practical issues that are being faced in New Zealand where an increasing number of schools are introducing students to international languages at a younger age, and where young learners are being introduced to Māori in a range of different educational settings. Some of the issues, both theoretical and practical, that are common to young learner language initiatives in both New Zealand and in a number of Asian countries are explored here.

text: Teaching Languages to Young Learners:  Asian Rim Experiences A number of Asian countries have recently developed initiatives relating to the teaching of English to young learners in schools. Many of the issues that these countries are currently facing are very similar to the theoretical and practical issues that are being faced in New Zealand where an increasing number of schools are introducing students to international languages at a younger age, and where young learners are being introduced to Māori in a range of different educational settings. Some of the issues, both theoretical and practical, that are common to young learner language initiatives in both New Zealand and in a number of Asian countries are explored here.

year: 2003-02

title: Delivering the Maori-language newspapers on the Internet

authors: Apperley, Mark

subjects: computer science

abstract: Although any collection of historical newspapers provides a particularly rich and valuable record of events and social and political commentary, the content tends to be difficult to access and extremely time-consuming to browse or search. The advent of digital libraries has meant that for electronically stored text, full-text searching is now a tool readily available for researchers, or indeed anyone wishing to have asscess to specific information in text. Text in this form can be readily distributed via CD-ROM or the Internet, with a significant impact on accessibility over traditional microfiche or hard-copy distribution. For the majority of text being generated de nouveau, availability in electronic form is standard, and hence the increasing use of full-text search facilities. However, for legacy text available only in printed form, the provision of these electronic search tools is dependent on the prior electronic capture of digital facsimile images of the printed text, followed by the conversion of these images to electronic text through the process of optical character recognition (OCR). This article describes a project undertaken at the University of Waikato over the period 1999 to 2001 to produce a full-text searchable version of the Niupepa or Maori- language newspaper collection for delivery over the Internet.

text: Delivering the Maori-language newspapers on the Internet Although any collection of historical newspapers provides a particularly rich and valuable record of events and social and political commentary, the content tends to be difficult to access and extremely time-consuming to browse or search. The advent of digital libraries has meant that for electronically stored text, full-text searching is now a tool readily available for researchers, or indeed anyone wishing to have asscess to specific information in text. Text in this form can be readily distributed via CD-ROM or the Internet, with a significant impact on accessibility over traditional microfiche or hard-copy distribution. For the majority of text being generated de nouveau, availability in electronic form is standard, and hence the increasing use of full-text search facilities. However, for legacy text available only in printed form, the provision of these electronic search tools is dependent on the prior electronic capture of digital facsimile images of the printed text, followed by the conversion of these images to electronic text through the process of optical character recognition (OCR). This article describes a project undertaken at the University of Waikato over the period 1999 to 2001 to produce a full-text searchable version of the Niupepa or Maori- language newspaper collection for delivery over the Internet.

year: 2002