Faithful Adaptation or Transfer of the Soul, the Effect of Analyzing the quality of cinematic adaptations of the story of The People’s Child written by Al-Ahmad

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 M.A of Persian Language and Literature Department, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran

2 Assistant Professor of Persian Language and Literature Department, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran

Abstract

A major part of adaptation studies, as an interdisciplinary branch, is devoted to the process of transmitting the written fiction such as novels and short stories to the visual medium of film.  Experts of cinema and literature have spoken about the quality of cinematic adaptation, suitable works for adaptation, types of adaptation, their quality, etc.; Sabouraud has argued that a correct understanding of the style of the original work and the use of cinematic tools to turn the fiction into a film are necessary for successful adaptation, and twentieth-century critics have emphasized the preservation and transmission of the "spirit of literary work" in the adaptation process. In this research, by looking at the theories of adaptation studies, in a descriptive-analytical method, the quality of adaptation in two films adapted from the short story of The People’s Child written by Al-Ahmad has been analyzed. The results show that in the film called A Beautiful Snowy Day, despite being more faithful to the events of the origin story, the choice of melodrama genre is contrary to the realist style of Al-Ahmad story, he has caused the spirit of the work not to be transferred, but in the short film entitled Before Darkness, despite the significant differences, in the plot, characters, time and place, etc. with the original story, the filmmaker adherences to the story style and the use of appropriate cinematic tools have reflected the spirit of the work well.

Keywords

References

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Research on Fictional Literature
Volume 11, Issue 3 - Serial Number 40
October 2022
Pages 185-213

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