SHAKESPEARE – A RACIST OR A RACIALIST
SHAKESPEARE – A RACIST OR A RACIALIST

Summary/Abstract: In this paper we will hopefully find the answer to the question: Was Shakespeare a racist or a racialist? I have considered Tzvetan Todorov’s views who, in “Race and Racism” defines racialism as an acceptance of the existence of different human races, i.e. “human groupings whose members possess common physical characteristics,” just like animal species (Todorov, 64-65). There is no racism involved in such an acceptance of the Other. Unfortunately, there is only one small step from racialism to racism, which – besides the recognition of biological differences among the different human races – acknowledges and stresses the so much exploited superiority of races to others. Todorov is very specific about the dangers of such an approach: “The form of racism that is rooted in racialism produces particularly catastrophic results” (Todorov, 64).

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