Bohannan knew that her audience, the elders of the African tribe, would not have understood various words in the story Hamlet so, she decided to change the translation into something that she knew they understood. For example, the words “king” and “castle” were words that she knew that they would not understand instead so, instead she used the words “chief” and “farm.” Bohannan also chose to use the word “omen” instead of the word “ghost” as she knew that they would not understand the concept of ghosts. “‘What is a ‘ghost’? An omen?’ ‘No, a ‘ghost’ is someone who is dead but who walks around and can talk, and people can hear him and see him but not touch him’” (Bohannan 195). As some words had different meanings, she knew that she’d have to
