II Course description
It is a researched fact that more than 50% of films have their literary originals. More than three-quarters of the American Academy Awards have been granted to films based on novels, short stories and dramas. There are plentiful examples of famous films based on no less famous literary texts, from the already hackneyed Pride and Prejudice, through Bridget Jones’ Diary, The Lord of the Rings, the Narnia cycle, A Passage to India, Batman, A Thousand and One Nights to Frankenstein, Dracula, Ninety Eighty-Four and Hamlet.
This close relation between literature and film becomes even clearer when we realize that film is itself a text that tells a story. Keeping this in mind, in this course we will discuss various ways in which a literary original is translated on screen, and where fidelity to the literary source is understood as but a general parameter of a broad comparative study. AH-LITR 304 Film and Text in interested in various links between literary and film narration, and in various intertextual dimensions of film adaptation. It offers instruction in a methodology of film analysis, building on students’ knowledge of literature, media and popular culture. As it studies manifold transactions between the adaptor, the critic and the viewers, it is vital to every student interested in literature, media, popular culture and journalism.
Out first step is the basic formalist analysis of a literary text along with its plot, structure, character, setting, and a formalist analysis of the multi-track film (image, acting, music, sound effects) along with its “syntax” and “diction” which all contribute to its tone and themes. Our further discussions will concern various other aspects of adaptation studies, with a special emphasis on intertextuality. Studying complex relations between literature and film, we use filmic, bibliographic and Internet resources in order to master key terminology, concepts, methods, and theories of adaptation.
The course is addressed to AH students interested in literature, journalism, media, and art history as well many SSC majors who intend to pursue qualitative social science studies at an MA level such as Cultural Analysis, Modern Sociology, Visual Anthropology and Cultural Studies.
It is a researched fact that more than 50% of films have their literary originals. More than three-quarters of the American Academy Awards have been granted to films based on novels, short stories and dramas. There are plentiful examples of famous films based on no less famous literary texts, from the already hackneyed Pride and Prejudice, through Bridget Jones’ Diary, The Lord of the Rings, the Narnia cycle, A Passage to India, Batman, A Thousand and One Nights to Frankenstein, Dracula, Ninety Eighty-Four and Hamlet.
This close relation between literature and film becomes even clearer when we realize that film is itself a text that tells a story. Keeping this in mind, in this course we will discuss various ways in which a literary original is translated on screen, and where fidelity to the literary source is understood as but a general parameter of a broad comparative study. AH-LITR 304 Film and Text in interested in various links between literary and film narration, and in various intertextual dimensions of film adaptation. It offers instruction in a methodology of film analysis, building on students’ knowledge of literature, media and popular culture. As it studies manifold transactions between the adaptor, the critic and the viewers, it is vital to every student interested in literature, media, popular culture and journalism.
Out first step is the basic formalist analysis of a literary text along with its plot, structure, character, setting, and a formalist analysis of the multi-track film (image, acting, music, sound effects) along with its “syntax” and “diction” which all contribute to its tone and themes. Our further discussions will concern various other aspects of adaptation studies, with a special emphasis on intertextuality. Studying complex relations between literature and film, we use filmic, bibliographic and Internet resources in order to master key terminology, concepts, methods, and theories of adaptation.
The course is addressed to AH students interested in literature, journalism, media, and art history as well many SSC majors who intend to pursue qualitative social science studies at an MA level such as Cultural Analysis, Modern Sociology, Visual Anthropology and Cultural Studies.
- Teacher: Ewa Tak-Ignaczak