ENH2810

Novel into film

B McFarlane

8 points - 24 hours per week - First semester, Caulfield - Second semester, Clayton

Objectives Upon completion of this subject, students should have acquired a knowledge of two different signifying systems; an awareness of those novelistic elements which are transferable to film and those which are not; an understanding of important theoretical concepts; competence in comparing the narrational modes available to the two media; confidence in engaging in group discussion, including the presentation of a class paper; a capacity to meet the general learning objectives of the department.

Synopsis The aims of the subject are to extend the student's study of narrative modes through a comparative study of film and literature; to encourage a close critical reading of texts in two media; and to explore a critical and theoretical methodology for the study of adaptation. The following will be studied in detail. (a) Aspects of narrative form and function. A comparative study of narrative procedures in film and prose fiction. (b) Five or six texts which exist as novels and as film, so as to compare ways in which the two different media effect and affect narrative. (c) A comparison of two different signifying systems. (d) Some problems of adaptation. What can be transferred from one medium to another? What requires adaptation? Are some kinds of novel more susceptible to filming than others? (e) The question of 'fidelity' in relation to adaptation. How possible or desirable it is? Factors involved other than fidelity external production determinants.

Assessment Class participation including Seminar paper (1500 words): 30% Essay (2500 words): 40% Test (2 hours): 30%

Prescribed texts

Carroll L Alice's adventures in Wonderland Everyman
Dickens C Oliver Twist OUP
Green G Brighton rock Penguin
Hilton J Random harvest
James H Daisy Miller Penguin
MacDonald J The executioners Penguin
McFarlane B Novel to film: An introduction to the theory of adaptation OUP
Wharton E The Age of Innocence Penguin

Recommended texts

Barthes R 'Introduction to a structural analysis of narratives' in Image-music-text Fontana

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