For Bakwethu: A Journal of Shakespeare Studies, Open Access is a direct expression of our mission to extend and reposition the flow of knowledge in Shakespeare studies. The field has been shaped by institutional structures and academic perspectives from the Global North, and access, following traditional publishing models, has been uneven. Bakwethu’s title hails “our people”– all those whose voices belong in the conversation, beyond national and geographical boundaries, to join in. Diamond Open Access allows us to extend this invitation unreservedly: readers can access our content without being stopped short by paywalls, and authors are not constrained by author fees. This is significant for a journal grounded in a Southern point of view: our proposed shift in perspective cannot be reduced to a declaration of intent. It must also be enabled by structural choices about how knowledge is produced and circulated.

Bakwethu views Shakespeare not as an inheritance to be guarded, but as one of many shared cultural resources that can be put to work in staging, translations, and readings to speak to our present concerns. The journal’s commitment to open access follows the same logic: we are not beholden to fixed ideas about an author or body of work, nor the exclusivity of a publishing platform. Rather, both content and format are resources in service of a conversation which is ours to shape together with readers and authors.

About the Journal

Bakwethu is an international, biannual, peer-reviewed open-access journal dedicated to exploring Shakespeare from global perspectives, with particular emphasis on voices from Africa and the Global South. Published in June and December, the journal seeks to disrupt traditional Anglocentric approaches to Shakespeare scholarship by foregrounding Southern academic views and methodologies, artistic engagements, and critical perspectives that have historically been underrepresented in the field.

Here’s a selection of articles from the recent issue of Bakwethu: 

• Words or blows? B.B. Mdledle’s isiXhosa translation of Julius Caesar (1956)
• A humanistic reading of witchcraft in Macbeth, with reference to Othello

Bakwethu publishes rigorous, creative research including articles, essays, commentary, roundtables, interviews, and reviews of books, theatre, and film. The journal particularly welcomes contributions that challenge centre-margin dynamics, explore postcolonial and decolonial frameworks, examine translation and adaptation practices, investigate pedagogical approaches, and address questions of race, identity, and cultural exchange. Read the journal for free Diamond #OpenAccess on ScienceOpen.