Ο Stephen Greenblatt μιλά για το θέμα της «παγκοσμιότητας» της τέχνης, με αναφορές στα κείμενα του δυτικού «λογοτεχνικού κανόνα». Ανάμεσα σε άλλα σημειώνει:

[…] whatever we mean by universality in art, Shakespearian or otherwise, I think doesn’t have to do with a lift-off that lets you escape everything, the time and place it was produced and the time and place you are produced. That said, the key question is how is it possible for a work that was written in a particular circumstance with a particular set of interests, nonetheless to speak to other people across a huge gap in time.

[…] it has to do with the language; it has to do with the kind of incantatory magic of words. It has to do with what happens to the air as it passes through your lungs, as you recite the verses. It’s some connection to love and disappointment and it crosses barriers. And that’s what is the fascination of works of art. But it doesn’t mean that it’s universal. It doesn’t mean that it escapes from time and place. It means that it’s able to be mobile. And mobility rather than universality is really for me the key issue.

Το βίντεο προέρχεται από το κανάλι Big Think στο youtube.com .