Bakwethu

Bakwethu: A journal of Shakespeare studies is the new journal of the Shakespeare Society of Southern Africa (SSOSA). Launched in 2026, it is published by Pluto Journals as part of the African Journals Initiative, and can be accessed via ScienceOpen.

Bakwethu is an exciting development in the field of Global Shakespeares. It continues the legacy of its predecessor, Shakespeare in Southern Africa, but with a broader scope. Working from a globally southern and African perspective, Bakwethu will provide a dynamic and inclusive platform for scholarship exploring the multifaceted intersections between Shakespeare and diverse cultures, histories and forms of artistic expression.

Taken from K.E. Masinga’s isiZulu translation-adaptation of Julius Caesar into a radio drama in the 1950s, the title honours the publication’s South African origin. In Masinga’s work, the speech hailing “friends, Romans, countrymen” became “Zihlobo, Bakwethu, MaRomani”. This reference in naming the journal takes advantage of the rich linguistic potential of “Bakwethu”, which translates to “compatriots” but also, more casually, “companions”: “my people”. The reference also maintains the situatedness of the journal as an important part of its identity: it “speaks” from a southern, African location and perspective. At the same time, “Bakwethu” implies a sense of community and conviviality that extends to anyone within earshot. This is an invitation to fellow Shakespeareans everywhere to listen up and join in.

While Bakwethu will include studies in translation, cultural adaptation and performance of Shakespeare in/and/from Africa and the Global South, it extends an open invitation to work that disrupts the boundaries suggested by national or geographic categories, and that explores proximities and resonances between points of engagement in the shared space provided by Shakespeare studies.