# Who is the Shakespeare of your country? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 11, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042 "2009-05-11T16:03:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/61 "2009-05-11T23:42:23Z")
Henry James? Ewwww. As an American, I’d much rather be represented by Mark Twain or Truman Capote or almost anyone other than boring ol’ Henry James. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/62 "2009-05-11T23:44:53Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Quentin Tarantino. 😉 > > At least that’s what I told my English teacher in HS knowing it would piss her off. Nah, Tarantino is the American John Webster. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/63 "2009-05-11T23:50:55Z")
Great post **Sampiro**!!! I agree with pretty much everything you said, and I think that’s why Twain would be considered for the role. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/64 "2009-05-11T23:51:47Z")
One of the [customer reviews](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-West-Wing-Seasons-Disc/dp/B000I8OC08/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top) at [Amazon.co.uk](http://Amazon.co.uk) for _The West Wing_ claims that Aaron Sorkin is “the closest thing we have to a modern day Shakespeare.” When I think about it, the claim makes a certain amount of sense. Shakespeare was, after all, a playwright; maybe we should be looking for his “equivalents” among those who write for the stage, movies, or TV. ETA: And where Shakespeare wrote of kings and courtiers, Sorkin wrote of presidents and their staff. ---
**Author:** ![maplekiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@maplekiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maplekiwi)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/65 "2009-05-12T00:18:02Z")
Other New Zealanders may say Witi Ihimaera. I’ve only read The Whale Rider (& that only after seeing the film). I’m going to say short story writer Katherine Mansfield, even though she did most of her best work while living abroad. Virginia Woolf once said that Katherine Mansfield had produced “the only writing I have ever been jealous of.” ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/66 "2009-05-12T01:00:53Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > One of the [customer reviews](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-West-Wing-Seasons-Disc/dp/B000I8OC08/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top) at [Amazon.co.uk](http://Amazon.co.uk) for _The West Wing_ claims that Aaron Sorkin is “the closest thing we have to a modern day Shakespeare.” When I think about it, the claim makes a certain amount of sense. Shakespeare was, after all, a playwright; maybe we should be looking for his “equivalents” among those who write for the stage, movies, or TV. > > ETA: And where Shakespeare wrote of kings and courtiers, Sorkin wrote of presidents and their staff. I don’t know if Shakespeare at his worst ever wrote anything as painfully bad as _Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip_, though. ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/67 "2009-05-12T01:01:40Z")
Thank you for that, **Sampiro**. I was unaware of that work by Mark Twain, and am profoundly touched now that the gap has been remedied. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/68 "2009-05-12T01:30:12Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > I don’t think that comparison really flies - did Ford write his own screenplays? I understand the idea of director as _auteur_, but it seems to me we’re dealing strictly with the written medium here. No, he didn’t. But I’ve said before that Ford was America’s Shakespeare, only to subsequently see the same thing said by a major American film critic. Ford didn’t write in letters on a page, but as the creative force behind the works of literature that his movies are–and if a graphic novel is literature, then a movie is literature–no other American artist has ever approached Shakespeare’s plays’ emotional scope and power, and sheer cultural resonance–and relevance–like Ford’s films did. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/69 "2009-05-12T02:02:01Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Quentin Tarantino. 😉 > > At least that’s what I told my English teacher in HS knowing it would piss her off. Actually you could make an argument that movies in general are America’s answer to literature. (Not discounting that the entire world makes movies of course, but Hollywood is still the world capitol and U.S. made movies are the most widely seen across the world.) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/70 "2009-05-12T02:06:38Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > I don’t know if Shakespeare at his worst ever wrote anything as painfully bad as _Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip_, though. There could be a reason there are no surviving copies of _Love’s Labour Won_… ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/71 "2009-05-12T02:57:31Z")
The Bulgarian answer would almost certainly Hristo Botev. Bulgarians love him not only for his poetry, but because he was a revolutionary. He was banished from the Ottoman Empire at a young age for spreading insurrection, so he ran off to Bucharest. He revolutionaried for awhile in Romania before taking a ship across the Danube to revolutionary in Bulgaria. (For some reason, Bulgarians always make mention of taking the ship across the Danube as if it were a really big deal and incredibly brave. I’m not sure how else he would have gotten across the river, though.) Then the Turks caught up with him and executed him. He was 28. I’ve read his poetry in English translation, and frankly, I think it’s melodramatic pulp. However, I know a Bulgarian with a PhD in English Literature and I asked her what she thought of his poetry and she told me it’s really beautiful in the original. My own Bulgarian is not at a high enough level to judge. [You be the judge.](http://www.slovo.bg/showauthor.php3?ID=2&LangID=2) His most famous poem, AFAICT, is Hadzhi Dimitar. ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/72 "2009-05-12T02:59:54Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > For Australia, the answer may be [Henry Lawson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Lawson), who wrote both poetry and prose, but is better regarded for his prose these days. The main competitor would be [Patrick White](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_White). Patrick White was my thought. Although Miles Davis, mentioned earlier in the thread, might also have been a good call. Not yet written enough to judge by - Richard Flanagan’s writing has the scope and pure scatological genius, richness of language, and sly humour to play along with Willie S, if he keeps developing. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/73 "2009-05-12T04:14:18Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > Cool! Never heard of him either, need to check him out. Has it been translated into english? Amazon [sells](http://www.amazon.com/Gaucho-Martin-Fierro-collection-representative/dp/0820111333/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242101511&sr=1-4) an Unesco translation of “Martin Fierro”, I can’t vouch for it. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/74 "2009-05-12T04:15:37Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > It’s hard to answer the question because Shakespeare isn’t just the most famous author native to Britain. I think it’s a little strong to claim that the last 350 years of English literature have been a response to Shakespeare’s work, but it’s not too far off. Kafka’s the only figure I know of who comes close, and I don’t think we have anyone in America–Mark Twain is our most famous author, but American literature students take classes in Shakespeare, not Twain. Well this argentinian student never read Shakespeare in High School (regular literature class, not english class), but Huckleberry Finn was a required reading. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/75 "2009-05-12T04:19:42Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > I would have guessed Jose Luis Borges, just because of his greater international reputation. Small nitpick it’s Jorge Luis Borges. As I said, Borges, Cortazar, Sabato, etc.. are all great writers. Borges was a giant of 20 century literature but Martin Fierro is our national epic poem. Speaking of spain, “El Cantar del Mio Cid” by an anonymus writer can qualify instead of Don Quijote ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/76 "2009-05-12T05:57:25Z")
I’ll go with playwright Eugene O’Neill for America’s closest approach to Shakespeare, at least for tragedy. Twain for comedy and Henry Adams for history. But really, Shakespeare is really in a class all by himself in literature. The only thing comparable for Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations is the bible for sheer volume. Dutchman, have ye not heard of Ben Spinoza? As for Spain, not only was there Cervantes, but there was Guy Lope de Vega, we have hundreds of his plays. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/77 "2009-05-12T06:40:51Z")
No country has a precise Shakespeare equivalent; this is the writer that defined modern English which has encompassed the world. He invented more or less out of whole cloth The Play as a serious literary device in English (and thence to other European languages), he invented more or less out of whole cloth thousands of words now incorporated into everyday English, and it is barely possible to write a page of literate English without using some Shakespearean term, phrase, or reference. If the OP’s actual question was “which writer in your national literature has had a comparable influence to Shakespeare on his” then this thread is going just fine. If it was more like “have there been writers of global influence comparable to Shakespeare but originating from your culture” then, I’m sorry, but there are none. Due to the various accidents of history that have made English the dominant language and source of literature of global culture, trade and commerce, and the unquestioned stature of Shakespeare in the canon of English, I think at this stage it is in practical terms simply impossible he be dethroned. > [@Giles](#): > > For Australia, the answer may be [Henry Lawson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Lawson), who wrote both poetry and prose, but is better regarded for his prose these days. The main competitor would be [Patrick White](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_White). Not competitors IMO, as they wrote in entirely different genres and at incomparable times. Surely [Banjo Patterson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banjo_Patterson) with be a better comparison. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/78 "2009-05-12T07:09:54Z")
**Askance** , I’m simply going for the “top dog” of every nation, as I clarified in post #25 (which everyone seems to have overlooked 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![mallurox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@mallurox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mallurox)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/79 "2009-05-12T07:27:07Z")
> [@fruitbat](#): > > Let’s take care of some of the really obvious countries first: > … > > VS Naipaul could be claimed by India, but he is Trinidadian by birth. > … I am a big fan of Naipaul, but he is not very ‘Indian’. He is a cosmpolitan citizen of his own world 🙂 . Even [Pico Iyer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pico_Iyer)is more indian than Naipaul in my opinion, so we cannot claim him. For impact on thought, art , school syllabi 🙂 and renown similar to Sheakspeare i nominate [Kalidas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalidasa) from India. In a slightly ironical sign of the times, at school level we study Sheakspeare and not as much Kalidas. I personally had Julius Caesar and Macbeth in school and have never studied Kalidas in Sanskrit. ---
**Author:** ![mallurox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@mallurox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mallurox)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042/80 "2009-05-12T07:37:14Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > **Askance** , I’m simply going for the “top dog” of every nation, as I clarified in post #25 (which everyone seems to have overlooked 🙂 ) For contemporary Top Dog status i guess it will have to be [Tagore](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindra_Nath_Tagore). Impact on art, education and politics and relevant even today. A Nobel for Literature. An iconical figure in Bengali / Indian literature. If i was to go for a modern top dog - it would have to be Salman Rushdie. With a host of also rans who write in english. There are a lot of under appreciated writers in Indian languages who are not as well known, but in my opinion much better and more original. [O.V. Vijayan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O.V._Vijayan) was a bitingly wicked proponent of the ‘magical realism’ which Salman Rushdie employed. But i realise thats a subjective opinion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-shakespeare-of-your-country/496042.md?page=5)