EUT412: Translation and Adaptation in the Arts
| School | null |
| Department Code | null |
| Module Code | EUT412 |
| External Subject Code | Q920 |
| Number of Credits | 15 |
| Level | L7 |
| Language of Delivery | English |
| Module Leader | Dr Montserrat Lunati |
| Semester | Spring Semester |
| Academic Year | 2013/4 |
Outline Description of Module
Adaptation has long made artistic and financial sense. Since their invention, radio, film and television have turned to literature for inspiration. This module will consider how and why different media translate literary source texts and the nations behind them. It will examine the commercial reasons behind the adaptive relationship (a ready-made fan base and pre-prepared subject matter), the linguistic re-creation and the cultural transfer as the product of one nation is translated across media for another. The relationship between adaptation and translation is a contentious topic in the sphere of Translation Studies. This module will make a case for their association, exploring the ways in which specific elements of Translation Theory, notably the theorists of the cultural turn, the foreignisation/domestication debate and Functionalist theories, shed important light on adaptations as artefacts, revising the critical discourse which currently surrounds them. This module’s five case study texts and adaptations will be used to compare and contrast the process of adaptation in distinct eras, nation and media in order to encourage students to engage both with specific adaptations and the broader trends and processes of adaptation as a whole.
On completion of the module a student should be able to
- demonstrate a high level of critical awareness of the aesthetic, technical and/or cultural issues raised by the adaptation of cultural forms from one medium to another
- show understanding of a range of adaptations – including text to film, text to image, text to music – in relation to their historical, political and cultural contexts
- evaluate and apply theoretical and critical frameworks relevant to aesthetic adaptation
- present ideas in a structured, logical and coherent manner.
How the module will be delivered
Teaching: 5 fortnightly lectures/seminars in the second semester (Spring).
Week 1 Multimedia Adaptation: Therese Raquin (Kate Griffiths)
Week 2 Adaption and the New Wave: Jules et Jim (Kate Griffiths)
Week 3 Conrad and Translation (Dorota Goluch)
Week 4 Reinventing the Carmen Myth: Politics and Poetics (Montserrat Lunati)
Week 5 Günter Grass/Volker Schlöndorff, The Tin Drum (1959/1979) (Jan Berendse)
How the module will be assessed
Assessment: One formative essay plan and one essay of 3,000 words.
Assessment Breakdown
| Type | % | Title | Duration(hrs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Written Assessment | 100 | Translation And Adaptation In The Arts | N/A |
Syllabus content
- Translation and adaptation
- Adaptation in the arts and European culture
- Specific and common aspects of aesthetic media
- Issues of cross-cultural transfers.
Essential Reading and Resource List
B. BREWSTER and L. JACOBS, Theatre to Cinema: Stage Pictorialism and the Early Feature Film, Oxford: OUP, 1977
D CARTMELL and I. WHELEHAN (eds), Adaptations: From Text to Screen, Screen to Text. London: Routledge, 1999
B. MCFARLANE, Novel to Film: An Introduction to the Theory of Adaptation, Oxford: Clarendon, 1996
J. SANDERS, Adaptation and Appropriation, London/New York: Routledge, 2006
Robert STAM, Literature and Film: A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Film Adaptation, Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005