Adaptation Before Cinema: Literary and Visual Convergence from Antiquity through the Nineteenth Century

Adaptation Before Cinema explores pre-cinematic media forms, expanding the scholarly audience of adaptation studies to literary scholars and cultural critics. It highlights the creative diversity of cultural adaptation practices before cinema dominated, constructing critical bridges between literary history and contemporary media studies. The chapters illustrate how these forms of adaptation influenced the twentieth-century cinematic adaptation industry and continue to inform practices in the twenty-first-century transmedia landscape.

Format: Hardback
Length: 311 pages
Publication date: 20 January 2023
Publisher: Springer International Publishing AG

Adaptation Before Cinema delves into a diverse array of pre-cinematic media forms, encompassing theater, novelization, painting, illustration, transmedia art, children's media, and various literary and visual cultures. This comprehensive book broadens the primary scholarly audience of adaptation studies beyond film and media scholars to include literary scholars and cultural critics from diverse historical periods, genres, forms, and media. By doing so, it emphasizes the rich and varied creative practices of adaptation that predominated before cinema assumed its dominant position in the critical discourse on adaptation.

Collectively, the chapters in this book forge critical connections between literary history and contemporary media studies, highlighting diverse adaptation practices and offering a platform for innovative critical approaches to adaptation, appropriation, or transmedia storytelling. At the same time, they illustrate how these pre-cinematic forms of adaptation have not only shaped the cinematic adaptation industry of the twentieth century but also continue to inform adaptation practices in the twenty-first-century transmedia landscape.

Written by scholars with expertise spanning from the medieval period to the nineteenth century, the chapters employ discourses developed in contemporary adaptation studies to shed new light on their respective historical fields, authors, and artistic forms. This interdisciplinary approach fosters a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between literature, media, and culture throughout different eras.

In conclusion, Adaptation Before Cinema is a groundbreaking work that expands the horizons of adaptation studies by exploring the rich pre-cinematic heritage of adaptation. Through its comprehensive coverage and innovative critical approaches, the book provides valuable insights into the diverse practices of adaptation and their enduring impact on the cultural landscape. It is a must-read for scholars, students, and anyone interested in the dynamic relationship between literature, media, and adaptation.

Weight: 564g
Dimension: 218 x 157 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783031095955
Edition number: 1st ed. 2023