Othello and Adaptation to Different Cultures

So, I know Othello wasn't the tragedy I chose to read, but branching out is always good right? Brooke and I tried to watch a Bollywood version of Othello. It was an interesting take on the story. I didn't read the play, but it seemed to stick with the overall storyline fairly well. For details on how this version deviates, you'll have to visit Brooke's blog!

The thing that stuck out to me the most about watching this version, is how translation plays a big part in comprehension! This movie was not in english at all, so we watched it with subtitles. It worked for the most part, but there were certain scenes where jokes and such must be lost in translation, because I had no idea what it meant! I knew they were supposed to be funny, but the humor was lost on me. I think this is due to:

1. Some cultural things are known to the Indian people that I am unaware of

2. Certain words in other languages don't have a translation in English. They have an essence or idea that is only able to be conveyed in that original language

I think this is the case with reading Shakespeare sometimes. We feel like we are reading another language because the wording is so different, and also a lot of what Shakespeare deals with is pertinent to current events.