Universität Wien

123251 AR Literature Course - Literature 1/2 (MA) British/Irish/New English (2012S)

‘Now a Major Motion Picture’: Authorship, Accuracy, and Modification in Film Adaptations of Literary Texts

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik
Prüfungsimmanente Lehrveranstaltung
Moodle

An/Abmeldung

Hinweis: Ihr Anmeldezeitpunkt innerhalb der Frist hat keine Auswirkungen auf die Platzvergabe (kein "first come, first served").

Details

max. 24 Teilnehmer*innen
Sprache: Englisch

Lehrende

Termine (iCal) - nächster Termin ist mit N markiert

  • Freitag 09.03. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Freitag 16.03. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Freitag 23.03. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Freitag 30.03. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Freitag 20.04. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Freitag 27.04. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Freitag 04.05. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Freitag 11.05. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Freitag 18.05. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Freitag 25.05. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Freitag 01.06. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Freitag 08.06. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Freitag 15.06. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Freitag 22.06. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Freitag 29.06. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13

Information

Ziele, Inhalte und Methode der Lehrveranstaltung

What happens when a literary text is turned into a motion picture? Can a film reflect the gist of a novel, short story, drama, or comic book accurately? And, more importantly: Does it necessarily aspire to do so? The rift between literary and cinematic productions seems huge (given the fact that, due to the nature of the medium, a film is required to conduct a number of changes, elisions, and interpolations). Nevertheless, film adaptations often stress the proximity to the original and capitalize upon the ‘magic’ power of literary works. “Well over half of all commercial films have come from literary originals – though by no means all of these originals are revered or respected” (D. Andrew). This course deals with the challenges that cinematic adaptations of literary texts usually face – in terms of their usage of compositional features, the cultural background of film and original, and the uncontrollable dynamics of reception. We will discuss numerous works of British, Irish, and American origin, the filmic result often being a truly ‘transnational’ product. Emphasis will also be placed on a subgenre called “meta-adaptation,” in which “the adaptive processes between media, texts and genres” are foregrounded (Voigts-Virchow). Films to be analyzed in class include Carol Reed’s The Third Man (1949), Victor Fleming’s Gone with the Wind (1939), Spike Jonze’s Adaptation (2002), and Michael Winterbottom’s A Cock and Bull Story (2005).

Art der Leistungskontrolle und erlaubte Hilfsmittel

Regular attendance; active in-class participation; presentation as part of an expert session with 6-page handout to be distributed in class; reading assignments; occasional quizzes; at least 9 elaborate entries in the discussion forum.

Mindestanforderungen und Beurteilungsmaßstab

The course aims at a deeper understanding of the intricate relationship between literary works and their cinematic adaptations. We will focus on the structural mechanisms as well as the aesthetic patterns that lie at the heart of film versions of literature.

Prüfungsstoff

Presentations by students in the form of expert sessions (based on PowerPoint and handouts, focusing on five discussion questions and two or three relevant passages/sequences from movies or literary texts to be selected by the experts and discussed in class); forum discussions on Moodle.

Literatur

Deborah Cartmell and Imelda Whelehan, eds. Cambridge Companion to Literature on Screen. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

All basic texts will be made available on Moodle.

Zuordnung im Vorlesungsverzeichnis

Studium: Diplom 343, UF 344, MA 844;
Code/Modul: Diplom 325, 326/328, 336/338, 721-723, UF 4.2.4-323, MA4, MA7;
Lehrinhalt: 12-3251

Letzte Änderung: Mo 07.09.2020 15:33