Novel to Film An Introduction to the Theory of Adaptation.docx
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Novel to Film An Introduction to the Theory of Adaptation.docx
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NoveltoFilmAnIntroductiontotheTheoryofAdaptation
NoveltoFilm:
AnIntroductiontotheTheoryofAdaptation
BrianMcFarlane;ClarendonPress,1996,Oxford
PartIBackgrounds,Issues,andaNewAgenda
BACKGROUNDS
Conrad,Griffith,and'Seeing'
CommentatorsinthefieldarefondofquotingJosephConrad'sfamousstatementofhisnovelisticintention:
'MytaskwhichIamtryingtoachieveis,bythepowersofthewrittenword,tomakeyouhear,tomakeyoufeel-itis,beforeall,tomaketosee'.1Thisremarkof1897isechoed,consciously
____________________
1JosephConrad,PrefacetoTheNiggeroftheNarcissus(J.M.DentandSons:
London,1945),5.
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orotherwise,sixteenyearslaterbyD.W.Griffith,whosecinematicintentionisrecordedas:
'ThetaskIamtryingtoachieveisabovealltomakeyousee'.2GeorgeBluestone'sall-but-pioneeringworkinthefilm-literaturefield,NovelsintoFilm,drawsattentiontothesimilarityoftheremarksatthestartofhisstudyof'TheTwoWaysofSeeing',claimingthat'betweentheperceptofthevisualimageandtheconceptofthementalimageliestherootdifferencebetweenthetwomedia?
'.3Inthiswayheacknowledgestheconnectinglinkof'seeing'inhisuseoftheword'image'.Atthesametime,hepointstothefundamentaldifferencebetweenthewayimagesareproducedinthetwomediaandhowtheyarereceived.Finally,though,heclaimsthat'conceptualimagesevokedbyverbalstimulicanscarcelybedistinguishedintheendfromthoseevokedbynon-verbalstimuli',4and,inthisrespect,hesharescommongroundwithseveralotherwritersconcernedtoestablishlinksbetweenthetwomedia.
Bythis,Imeanthosecommentarieswhichaddressthemselvestocrucialchangesinthe(mainlyEnglish)noveltowardstheendofthenineteenthcentury;changeswhichledtoastressonshowingratherthanontellingandwhich,asaresult,reducedtheelementofauthorialinterventioninitsmoreovertmanifestations.Twoofthemostimpressiveofsuchaccounts,bothofthemconcernedwithongoingprocessesoftransmutationamongthearts,notablybetweenliteratureandfilm,areAlanSpiegelFictionandtheCameraEye5andKeithCohenFilmandFiction.6Spiegel'savowedpurposeistoinvestigate'thecommonbodyofthoughtandfeelingthatunitesfilmformwiththemodernnovel',7takingashisstarting-pointFlaubert,whomheseesasthefirstgreatnineteenth-centuryexemplarof'concretizedform',aformdependentonsupplyingagreatdealofvisualinformation.HislineofenquiryleadshimtoJamesJoycewho,likeFlaubert,respects'theintegrityoftheseenobjectand...givesitpalpablepresenceapartfromthepresenceoftheobserver'.8ThislineispursuedbywayofHenryJameswhoattempts'abalanceddistributionofemphasisintherenderingofwhatislookedat,whoislooking,andwhatthelookermakesofwhatshe[i.e.MaisieinWhatMaisieKnew]sees',9andbywayoftheConrad--Griffithcomparison.SpiegelpressesthiscomparisonharderthanBluestone,stressingthatthoughbothmayhaveaimedatthesamepoint--acongruenceofimageandconcept--theydidsofromoppositedirections.WhereasGriffithusedhisimagestotellastory,asmeanstounderstanding,Conrad(Spiegelclaims)wantedthereaderto
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2QuotedinLewisJacobs,TheRiseoftheAmericanFilm(Harcourt,Brace:
NewYork,1939),119.
3GeorgeBluestone.NovelsintoFilm(UniversityofCaliforniaPress:
BerkeleyandLosAngeles,1957),1.
4Ibid.47.
5AlanSpiegel,FictionandtheCameraEye:
VisualConsciousnessinFilmandtheModernNovel(UniversityPressofVirginia:
Charlottesville,1976).
6KeithCohen,FilmandFiction:
TheDynamicsofExchange(YaleUniversityPress:
NewHaven,1979).
7Spiegel,FictionandtheCameraEye,p.xiii.
8Ibid.63.
9Ibid.55.
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'''see"inandthroughandfinallypasthislanguageandhisnarrativeconcepttothehard,clearbedrockofimages'.10
Oneeffectofthisstressonthephysicalsurfacesandbehavioursofobjectsandfiguresistode-emphasizetheauthor'spersonalnarratingvoicesothatwelearntoreadtheostensiblyunmediatedvisuallanguageofthelaternineteenth-centurynovelinawaythatanticipatestheviewer'sexperienceoffilmwhichnecessarilypresentsthosephysicalsurfaces.ConradandJamesfurtheranticipatethecinemaintheircapacityfor'decomposing'ascene,foralteringpointofviewsoastofocusmoresharplyonvariousaspectsofanobject,forexploringavisualfieldbyfragmentingitratherthanbypresentingitscenographically(i.e.asifitwereascenefromastagepresentation).
Cohen,concernedwiththe'processofconvergence'betweenart-forms,alsoseesConradandJamesassignificantinacomparisonofnovelsandfilm.Theseauthorsheseesasbreakingwiththerepresentationalnovelsoftheearliernineteenthcenturyandusheringinanewemphasison'showinghowtheeventsunfolddramaticallyratherthanrecountingthem'.11Theanalogywithfilm'snarrativeprocedureswillbeclearandthereseemsnodoubtthatfilm,inturn,hasbeenhighlyinfluentialonthemodernnovel.CohenusespassagesfromProustandVirginiaWoolftosuggesthowthemodernnovel,influencedbytechniquesofEisensteinianmontagecinema,drawsattentiontoitsencodingprocessesinwaysthattheVictoriannoveltendsnotto.
Dickens,Griffith,andStory-Telling
TheothercomparisonthattrailsthroughthewritingaboutfilmandliteratureisthatbetweenGriffithandDickens,whowassaidtobethedirector'sfavouritenovelist.Themostfamousaccountis,ofcourse,thatofEisenstein,whocomparestheir'spontaneouschildlikeskillforstory-telling',12aqualityhefindsinAmericancinemaatlarge,theircapacityforvivifying'bit'characters,thevisualpowerofeach,theirimmensepopularsuccess,andabovealltheirrenderingofparallelaction,forwhichGriffithcitedDickensashissource.Onthefaceofit,therenowseemsnothingsoremarkableintheseformulationstojustifytheirbeingsofrequentlyparadedasexamplesofthetiesthatbindcinemaandtheVictoriannovel.InfactEisenstein'sdiscussionofDickens's'cinematictechniques',includinganticipationofsuchphenomenaasframecompositionandtheclose-up,isreallynotfarremovedfromthosemanyworkswhichtalkaboutfilmlanguage,strikingsimilaranalogicalposes,withoutgivingadequateconsiderationtothequalitativedifferencesenjoinedbythetwomedia.
LatercommentatorshavereadilyembracedEisenstein'saccount:
____________________
10Ibid.pp.xi-xii.
11Cohen,FilmandFiction,5
12SergeiEisenstein,FilmForm,ed.andtrans.JanLeyda(Harcourt,Brace:
NewYork,1949),196.
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Bluestone,forinstance,statesboldlythat:
'GriffithfoundinDickenshintsforeveryoneofhismajorinnovations',13andCohen,goingfurther,pointsto'themoreorlessblatantappropriationofthethemesandcontentofthenineteenth-centurybourgeoisnovel'.14However,inspiteofthefrequencyofreferencetotheDickens--Griffithconnection,andapartfromthehistoricalimportanceofparalleleditinginthedevelopmentoffilmnarrative,theinfluenceofDickenshasperhapsbeenoverestimatedandunder-scrutinized.OnegetstheimpressionthatcriticssteepedinaliteraryculturehavefallenontheDickens-Griffithcomparisonwithacertainrelief,perhapsasawayofarguingthecinema'srespectability.Theyhavetendedtoconcentrateonthethematicinterestsandthelarge,formalnarrativepatternsandstrategiesthetwogreatnarrative-makersshared,ratherthantoaddressthemselves,asafilm-orientedwritermight,todetailedquestionsofenunciation,ofpossibleparallelsanddisparitiesbetweenthetwodifferentsignifyingsystems,oftherangeof'functionalequivalents'15availabletoeachwithintheparametersoftheclassicalstyleasevincedineachmedium.
Asfilmcametoreplaceinpopularitytherepresentationalnoveloftheearliernineteenthcentury,itdidsothroughtheapplicationoftechniquespractisedbywritersatthelatterendofthecentury.Conradwithhisinsistenceonmakingthereader'see'andJameswithhistechniqueof'restrictedconsciousness',bothplayingdownobviousauthorialmediationinfavouroflimitingthepointofviewfromwhichactionsandobjectsareobserved,providedearexamples.Inthiswaytheymaybesaidtohavebrokenwiththetraditionof'transparency'inrelationtothenovel'sreferentialworldsothatthemodeandangleofvisionwereasmuchapartofthenovel'scontentaswhatwasviewed.Thecomparisonswithcinematictechniqueareclearbut,paradoxically,themodernnovelhasnotshownitselfveryadaptabletofilm.HoweverpersuasivelyitmaybedemonstratedthatthelikesofJoyce,Faulkner,andHemingwayhavedrawnoncinematictechniques,thefactisthatthecinemahasbeenmoreathomewithnovelsfrom--ordescendedfrom--anearlierperiod.Similarly,certainmodernplays,suchasDeathofaSalesman,Equus,orM.Butterfly,whichseemtoowesomethingtocinematictechniques,havelostagooddealoftheirfluidrepresentationsoftimeandspacewhentransferredtothescreen.
Adaptation:
ThePhenomenon
Assoonasthecinemabegantoseeitselfasanarrativeentertainment,theideaofransackingthenovel--thatalreadyestablishedrepositoryofnarrativefiction--forsourcematerialgotunderway,andtheprocesshascontinued
____________________
13Bluestone,NovelsintoFilm,2.
14Cohen,FilmandFiction,4.
15DavidBordwellterm,inTheClassicalHollywoodCinema(RoutledgeandKeganPaul:
London,1985),13.
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moreorlessunabatedforninetyyears.Film-makers'reasonsforthiscontinuingphenomenonappeartomovebetweenthepolesofcrass
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