Mark Thornton Burnett: Stretching Comfort Zone

Mark Thornton Burnett, professor of renaissance studies at Queens University, Belfast, on viewing films of Shakespeare's plays in other languages, especially in languages we do not know.

I fully appreciate what Burnett encourages us Shakespeare scholars and aficionados: that we slide out of our comfort zones, and turn to colleagues and resources to better grasp a Shakespearean production in another language.  Also, I have had the fortune and pleasure of traveling to many different countries, and when friends or colleagues speak in their native language, I marvel at the sound (tone, pitch) and visual (gestures, interactions) of their conversation.  I challenge myself to understand what they are saying without knowing the words they are speaking.