Racial Prejudices as Societal Norms: Utilizing Genre Pedagogy to Help Students Work with William Shakespeare’s 'Othello'

Sammanfattning: This essay examines racial attitudes in Elizabethan England to re-read Shakespeare’s Othello with an emphasis on the characters Roderigo, Iago, Brabantio, the Duke of Venice, and Emilia. It also looks at the historical background of blackface and how it contributed to racism. The study argues that rather than only reflecting the biases of the individual characters, the racialized language and stereotypes used by these characters represent the dominant racial sentiments of Shakespeare's day. Racial discrimination was molded and made acceptable within society standards as a result of the institutional racism instilled throughout that time. This thesis then examines the pedagogical ramifications of teaching Othello to upper secondary pupils in English 7 in Sweden after the literary examination. It suggests using The Teaching and Learning Cycle model and genre pedagogy to help pupils write literary analyses of Othello. This approach will allow students to develop their critical thinking and literacy abilities while introducing them to the difficult topics of racism in literary works. By raising the student's awareness of racism, the lessons will equip the students with the necessary tools to challenge and dismantle racism in their everyday lives. Keywords: Othello, Shakespeare, Racism, Institutional Racism, Racial Attitudes, Prejudice, Genre Pedagogy, The Teaching and Learning Cycle, Critical Thinking Skills.