Adapting Spanish Classics for the New Millennium: The Ninetheenth-Century Novel Remediated

The focus on twenty-first-century adaptationsmany of them little knownof nineteenth-century Spanish novels produces a highly original study, particularly since the adaptations are discussed on their own merits as creative responses to contemporary concerns such as disability, indebtedness, and domestic violence. The stress on free adaptationsin cinema, television, theatre, opera, and graphic narrativeis refreshing. Particularly welcome is the attention not just to the visual reimagining of literary sources but also to the use of musical effects. Readers will take away from this book an appreciation of the inventiveness of contemporary Spanish cultural production. Jo Labanyi, New York University (USA) Those who are suspicious of non-traditional adaptations of classic literary works will change their minds after reading Linda Willems studies of re-mediated versions of nineteenth-century Spanish novels. The adaptations vividly illustrate each works relevance to contemporary concerns, and Willems analyses bring fresh understanding both to the original works and to the creative re-envisionings of them. Each chapter allows nonspecialists to discover the richness of works by Alas, Galdos, Pardo Bazan, Valera, and Blasco Ibanez, while making specialists eager to re-read the original works and to teach them with their adaptations. Everyone who is interested in adaptation will enjoy this volume. Joyce Tolliver, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA) The twenty-first-century's turn away from fidelity-based adaptations toward more innovative approaches has allowed adapters from Spain, Argentina, and the United States to draw upon Spain's rich body of nineteenth-century classics to address contemporary concerns about gender, sexuality, race, class, disability, celebrity, immigration, identity, social justice, and domestic violence. This book provides a snapshot of visual adaptations in the first two decades of the new millennium, examining how novelistic material from the past has been remediated for today's viewers through film, television, theater, opera, and the graphic novel. Its theoretical approach refines the binary view of adapters as either honoring or opposing their source texts by positing three types of adaptation strategies: salvaging (which preserves old stories by giving them renewed life for modern audiences), utilizing (which draws upon a pre-existing text for an alternative purpose, building upon the story and creating a shift in emphasis without devaluing the source material), and appropriation (which involves a critique of the source text, often with an attempt to dismantle its authority). Special attention is given to how adapters address audiences that are familiar with the source novels, and those that are not. This examination of the vibrant afterlife of classic literature will be of interest to scholars and educators in the fields of adaptation, media, Spanish literature, cultural studies, performance, and the graphic arts. Linda M. Willem is the Betty Blades Lofton Professor of Spanish at Butler University (USA) Acknowledgments Praise for Adapting Spanish Classics for the New Millennium Contents About the Author List of Figures Introduction Bibliography Retelling Alas’s La Regenta La Regenta Stage Play (2012) by Marina Bollaín Oviedo Express Film (2007) by Gonzalo Suárez Bibliography Revisualizing Galdós’s Marianela Los ojos Stage Play (2011) by Pablo Messiez Marianela Stage Play (2014) by Mark-Brian Sonna Nela Graphic Novel (2013) by Rayco Pulido Bibliography Reconfiguring Blasco Ibáñez’s Arroz y Tartana and Flor de Mayo Arroz y tartana Television Miniseries (2003) by José Antonio Escrivá Flor de Mayo Made-for-Television Movie (2008) by José Antonio Escrivá Bibliography Remixing Galdós’s Realidad, Doña Perfecta, and Tormento Galdosiana Stage Play (2009) by Fernando Méndez-Leite Bibliography Reimagining Valera’s Pepita Jiménez and Galdós’s Fortunata y Jacinta Pepita Jiménez Opera (2012) by Calixto Bieito, Isaac Albéniz, and Francis Money-Coutts Fortunata y Benito Stage Play (2020) by Laila Ripoll and Alberto Granados Reguilón Bibliography Retracing Galdós’s Tristana and Pardo Bazán’s Insolación Tristana Stage Play (2017) by Eduardo Galán and Alberto Castrillo-Ferrer Insolación Stage Play (2014) by Pedro Víllora and Luis Luque 1892 Graphic Novel (2020) by Antonio Becerra Bolaños and Alberto Hernández Rivero Bibliography Reworking Galdós’s Tristana and Pardo Bazán’s Pazos de Ulloa Ana, también a nosotros nos llevará el olvido Stage Play (2018) by Irma Correa and Mario Vega Ulloa Stage Play (2021) by Irma Correa and José Luis Arellano García Bibliography Conclusion Bibliography Index "The twenty-first century's turn away from fidelity-based adaptations toward more innovative approaches has allowed adapters from Spain, Argentina, and the United States to draw upon Spain's rich body of nineteenth-century classics to address contemporary concerns about gender, sexuality, race, class, disability, celebrity, immigration, identity, social justice, and domestic violence. This book provides a snapshot of visual adaptations in the first two decades of the new millennium, examining how novelistic material from the past has been remediated for today's viewers through film, television, theater, opera, and the graphic novel"--Page 4 of cover