Mixed-race Ophelia: postcolonial adaptation in the game Elsinore (Golden Glitch, 2019)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the game Elsinore, developed by the group Golden Glitch in 2019, as an example of a postcolonial adaptation of Shakespeare's literary classic Hamlet. Through the work of Hutcheon (2013) and Stam (2008), the paper argues that adapting goes beyond a supposed fidelity to the adapted text and can also be a political expression that highlights the perspectives of marginalized characters. In the game, the protagonist, Ophelia, is a young mixed-race noblewoman trapped in a time loop that the player must unravel. The analysis of Elsinore contributes to discussing issues of racialization and social belonging from the perspective of coloniality studies. In addition, it also helps to integrate these debates in the gaming context, thus contributing to adaptation studies. Finally, it concludes that Elsinore is a work that has aesthetic and political value. However, it still lacks deeper discussions about its value as a decolonial production.