CFP: Film Adaptation (France) (12/17/05; 6/8/06-6/10/06)

full name / name of organization: 
Shannon Wells-Lassagne

De la page blanche aux salles obscures : l=92adaptation =20
cin=E9matographique dans le domaine anglophone

 =46rom the Blank Page to the Silver Screen: Film Adaptations in the =20
English-Speaking World

Universit=E9 de Bretagne Sud (University of South Brittany)
Lorient, France
June 8-10, 2006

For a long time, adaptations have been evaluated according to their =20
=93faithfulness=94 to the =93original=94 work, but the limits of this =20=

approach have become increasingly apparent, as Brian McFarlane has =20
shown: =93Fidelity is obviously very desirable in marriage; but with =20
film adaptations, I suspect playing around is more effective.=94 =20
Adapting literature to the big screen implies revision, if not =20
transformation. Rather than simply denigrating film adaptations as =20
impoverished versions of their literary counterparts, we would like =20
to examine adaptation as a meeting point of two modes of expression, =20
whose very confrontation is enlightening. Whether by strengthening =20
new themes in a classic novel (India in Mira Nair=92s Vanity Fair), =20
appropriating a well-known tale for a modern audience (Baz Luhrmann=92s =20=

Romeo + Juliet), creating new aspects of the original story (the =20
romance in Francis Ford Coppola=92s Dracula), or feeding on the success =20=

of a best-seller (The Bourne Identity, L.A. Confidential), film =20
adaptations tell us something about ourselves, our society, and our =20
understanding and appetite for literary works. They also reveal =20
alternative facets of familiar literary works, which may explain the =20
uncanny hold that adaptations have on the public. Topics might include:

Theorization of film adaptation
Specific examples of film adaptations of novels, short stories, and =20
plays
Intertextuality in film adaptations
Critical reception of film adaptations
Postcolonial and gender-related transformations of literary works
Sociological approaches to adaptation: what does adaptation reveal =20
about the adaptors and their public?
Stylistic concerns: are some authors more easily adaptable than others?
Genres and film adaptation
History of film adaptation
Hierarchy and authority
The attraction of adaptation for the film industry: the economic side

This list is not exhaustive.

Papers will be accepted in English or French, and the proceedings =20
will be published by the Presses Universitaires de Rennes. Send =20
abstracts of approximately 300 words and a brief CV by December 17th, =20=

2005 to shannon.wells-lassagne_at_univ-ubs.fr and =20
ariane.hudelet_at_wanadoo.fr.=

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Received on Tue Aug 09 2005 - 10:02:12 EDT

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