Telling and re-telling stories : studies on literary adaptation to film

What is the relationship between literature and film? What is meant when speaking about "adapting" a literary work to the screen? Is it possible to adapt? And if so, how? Are there films that have "improved" their literary sources? Is adaptation a "translation" or, rather, a "re-interpretation"? What is the impact of adapting literary classics to a modern context? This collection of articles offers a comprehensive and authoritative study of literary adaptation to film which addresses these and other unresolved questions in the field of Literary Adaptation Studies. Within five different sections, the volume's international team of contributors offers valuable study cases, suggesting both the continuity and variety of adaptation theories. The first section traces recurring theoretical issues regarding the problems and challenges related to the adaptation of literary works to the particular nature and dynamics of cinema. The second and third parts focus on the specific problems and technical challenges of adapting theatre and narrative works to film and TV series respectively. The fourth section includes the study of Latin American authors whose works have been adapted to the screen. The fifth and final part of the book deals with the structures and devices that film directors use in order to tell stories. The art of telling and re-telling stories, which originated in ancient times, is present throughout this publication, giving shape to the discussion. Adaptations of stories are present everywhere in today's world, and their development is well told and re-told in this volume, which will definitely interest academics and researchers working in literature and film comparative studies, novelists, screenwriters, film makers, dramatists, theatre directors, postgraduate students, and those researching on topics related to the philosophy of art and aesthetics. "What is the relationship between literature and film? What is meant when speaking about adapting a literary work to the screen? Is it possible to adapt? And if so, how? Are there films that have improved their literary sources? Is adaptation a translation or, rather, a re-interpretation ? What is the impact of adapting literary classics to a modern context? This collection of articles offers a comprehensive and authoritative study of literary adaptation to film which addresses these and other unresolved questions in the field of Literary Adaptation Studies. Within five different sections, the volume s international team of contributors offers valuable study cases, suggesting both the continuity and variety of adaptation theories. The first section traces recurring theoretical issues regarding the problems and challenges related to the adaptation of literary works to the particular nature and dynamics of cinema. The second and third parts focus on the specific problems and technical challenges of adapting theatre and narrative works to film and TV series respectively. The fourth section includes the study of Latin American authors whose works have been adapted to the screen. The fifth and final part of the book deals with the structures and devices that film directors use in order to tell stories."--publisher website Table of Contents 8 Acknowledgements 11 Foreword 12 Part I: Theoretical Approaches on Literature and Film Adaptation 24 Chapter One 25 Chapter Two 48 Chapter Three 68 Part II: From Stage to Screen 84 Chapter Four 85 Chapter Five 102 Chapter Six 122 Part III: From Written to Visual Narrative 136 Chapter Seven 137 Chapter Eight 149 Chapter Nine 160 Chapter Ten 168 Chapter Eleven 179 Chapter Twelve 186 Part IV: Latin American Voices on Screen 204 Chapter Thirteen 205 Chapter Fourteen 225 Part V: Films and their Narrative Strategies 238 Chapter Fifteen 239 Chapter Sixteen 265 Contributors 283 Index 288