Encounter and epiphany : reconstructing literary consciousness through film adaptation : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University, New Zealand
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Date
2012
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Massey University
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Abstract
Many
discussions
of
adaptation
continue
to
be
underscored
by
assumptions
of
hierarchical
relations,
with
films
positioned
as
colonies
serving
the
sovereignty
of
literature.
But
if
we
understand
why
and
how
we
tell
stories,
then
we
understand
why
the
adaptation
process
corresponds
with
and
deviates
from
its
source
text;
we
understand
how
one
story
produces
many.
This
thesis
explores
how
film
adaptation
facilitates
our
understanding
of
film
narrative
construction.
It
does
this
by
considering
how,
through
the
important
process
of
retelling,
film
adaptation
plays
an
instrumental
role
in
the
wider
endeavour
of
giving
innovative,
artistic
form
to
human
consciousness
through
narrative.
The
transition
between
literary
and
filmic
character
is
an
opportunity
to
engage
with
and
explore
dimensions
of
a
written
text
and
thus
cast
new
perspectives
on
narrative
through
the
cinematic
unfolding
of
a
character’s
journey.
How
film
realises
a
character’s
internal
and
external
realities
also
casts
an
interesting
light
on
the
internally
conjured
world
of
literature.
These
ideas
are
explored
through
close
analyses
of
a
range
of
film
adaptations
of
literary
texts.
Four
popular
film
and
TV
adaptations
of
novels
by
Jane
Austen
are
first
discussed
as
specific
instances
of
how
the
adaptation
process
restructures
the
unfolding
of
narrative
events
and
how
it
utilises
the
multiple
signifiers
of
film
to
evoke
and
explore
“the
self”
and
the
narrative’s
thematic
dimensions
in
line
with
the
strengths
and
sensibilities
of
film.
These
ideas
are
then
explored
in
closer
detail
through
more
focused
discussions
of
The
Reader
and
An
Education,
which
are
analysed
in
terms
of
how
they
handle
climactic
narrative
events
involving
encounter
and
discoveries
or
realisations
which
can
be
read
as
forms
of
epiphany.
These
close
readings
illustrate
how,
in
conversation
with
their
source
texts,
films
construct
scenes
to
illuminate
“the
self”
of
character
and
to
explore
the
wider,
thematic
implications
of
the
narrative.
An
Education
and
The
Reader
exemplify
how
the
adaptation
process
cinematically
restructures
the
turning
points
in
a
character’s
journey
to
propel
the
narrative
through
character
and
plot
discoveries.
Description
Keywords
Film adaptations, Motion picture plays, History and criticism, Criticism and interpretation, Jane Austen adaptations, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, The Reader (novel), An Education (novel)