The Klingon Hamlet

Infobox Book
name = The Klingon Hamlet
title_orig = Hamlet Prince of Denmark: The Restored Klingon Version
translator = Nick Nicholas
Andrew Strader


author = William Shakespeare(original story)
cover_artist = Phil Foglio
country = United States of America
language = English / Klingon
series =
subject =
genre = Science Fiction
publisher = Pocket Books
release_date = February 2000
media_type = Paperbook
pages = 219
isbn = ISBN 0-9644345-1-2
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Klingon Hamlet" (full title: "The Tragedy of Khamlet, Son of the Emperor of Qo'nos") was a project to translate William Shakespeare's play "Hamlet" into the invented language Klingon of the television series "Star Trek".

Impetus

The impetus for the project came from a line from the motion picture "" in which the Klingon Chancellor Gorkon stated:

The play was translated over several years by Nick Nicholas and Andrew Strader of the Klingon Shakespeare Restoration Project, with feedback and editorial assistance from Mark Shoulson, d'Armond Speers, and Will Martin.

Plot

The original English version of the play appears alongside its "original Klingon" translation. The "original Klingon" version has been variated to reflect the play's history as originating from a Klingon source. Reference sections in the book show some literal translations of the Klingon body text.

tyle

According to a disclaimer, the project is written in a satirical style implied by Chancellor Gorkon's quote.-- that Shakespeare was actually a Klingon writing about the attempted coup of the Klingon empire. This is implied because the plot is based on predominately Klingon themes and motifs as opposed to human themes and motifs, which were considered too primitive in comparison to the story of Hamlet during the time period in which it is set.The notion that Shakespeare was a human writing during Renaissance times was only introduced after the United Federation of Planets instigated a large propaganda campaign in order to rally people against Klingons. Since Star Trek VI was designed to be a metaphor for the Cold War, the Klingon's claim to Shakespeare is a reference to trends in Soviet propaganda, which often claimed that Slavic peoples created many things that the West held dear.

Publication

The Klingon Language Institute (KLI) printed and published a limited edition hardback version in 1996, entitled "Hamlet Prince of Denmark: The Restored Klingon Version" (ISBN 0-9644345-1-2) [ [http://www.kli.org/stuff/projects.html#KSRP KLI Projects ] ]

"Star Trek" publisher Pocket Books published the work as a trade paperback (ISBN 0-671-03578-9) in 2000.

References

External links

* [http://www.kli.org/stuff/Hamlet.html Klingon Language Institute]