230575 Principles of Literary Adaptation: From Novel to Screenplay and Film (S) (SoSe 2006)

The transposition of a text written for one medium into another medium throws the opportunities as well as the constraints of each medium and the relationships between them stand into relief. The relationships between literature and other media systems become especially visible in adaptations of literary texts for the cinema (or TV) screen. In the process of a story¿s transition from novel to film, the screenplay plays a major role, but in spite of its importance, the screenplay has only recently been acknowledged as an object of study. To cover the most important stages in intermedial adaptation, we will three read novels and the screenplays written on the basis of these novels, and we will of course analyze the films resulting from the adaptations.

The screenplay texts will be made available in a reader at the beginning of the semester, but please buy your own copy of the novels. To take some pressure off your working week during the semester, it will be a good idea to read at least one of the novels in the term break.

Novels (any edition):

Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
John Fowles, The French Lieutenant¿s Woman
Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient.

Please note that we are likely to need three additional film-viewing sessions.