Globalization, transnational capital, and the rise of new media have contributed to an environment in which works are continually adapted into an ever-expanding variety of media across time and space. In this course students will explore adaptation as both product and process—a process that not only transforms “source” texts into “adaptations” (very often across media boundaries), but also impacts how we read, interpret, and evaluate them. While addressing the broader phenomenon of adaptation, the focus of the course will primarily be on adaptations of literature into film and television through close analysis of selected literary works and their corresponding adaptations, including Ray Bradbury’s sci-fi classic Fahrenheit 451 (adapted by French New Wave director François Truffaut), Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men (adapted by the Coen brothers), Eileen Chang’s novella Lust, Caution (adapted by Taiwanese director Ang Lee), and Sherlock Holmes narratives as examples of transmedia storytelling. Students will also consider “adaptation” as a critical term in its relationship to other related concepts used in literary and cultural studies (such as “translation,” “parody,” “intertextuality,” “remediation,” “fan fiction,” “transmedia franchise,” etc.), and will be offered opportunities to put their knowledge of theories of adaptation into practice.

 

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1. To provide students with a set of tools, concepts, and practices that will facilitate the close formal analysis of literary and cinematic texts.
2. To teach students to think critically about the transformative process of adaptation—the choices that must be made when adapting texts across media, historical, and cultural contexts—and to consider the different motives for adapting specific texts.
3. To develop both an awareness of how adaptation transforms our processes of reading and experiencing texts (i.e. Linda Hutcheon’s “palimpsestuous intertextuality”), and a critical understanding of how the products of adaptation are evaluated (via the concept of “fidelity,” etc.).
4. To assess the relationship between “adaptation” and other critical concepts used in literary, cultural, and media studies (in particular, the concept of “transmedia storytelling”).

 

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100% coursework

Assessment Task	Weighting
Participation (including attendance, in-class discussion and activities, etc.)	20%
In-class adaptation analysis	20%
Group presentation	20%
Final essay	40%
Total	100%

 

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1. Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 (must be purchased)
2. Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men (must be purchased)
3. Eileen Chang, Lust, Caution (must be purchased)
4. Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes narratives (TBD; will be made available as PDF on Moodle)

Other theoretical readings may be assigned and uploaded to Moodle. Film adaptations will either be screened in class or be made available in the library for group/independent screenings. 

 

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Students should read and follow the instructions below prior to enrolling your preferred course(s).

Please select the suitable course(s) on Student Information System during the add/drop period (June 13 to 20, 2023).

Step 1: Submit the application by filling in the online form, https://hku.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9NR6PCDnzTxRNMa (Submission Deadline: June 2, 2023)

Step 2: Your home faculty will confirm on the outstanding credits that you need for the completion of your degree studies. You do not need to contact the course-offering department(s)/coordinator(s) while we are processing your request.

Step 3: Upon approval, the Summer Institute in the Art & Hummanities will inform your home faculty to enrol the summer course(s) for you.