Overview

Arguing that we need to reconceptualize the study of adaptations, Andrew Watts and Kate Griffiths examine six canonical French novelists and the recreations of their works in a variety of media. Rather than viewing the works of Balzac, Hugo, Flaubert, Zola, Maupassant, and Verne as authentic original versions to be defended from the impurities of adapting hands, the authors demonstrate that these “originals” are themselves fashioned from the adapted voices of a host of earlier artists, moments, and media. Analyzing reworkings of canonical literary texts across time and media to emphasize the ways adaptations cast new light on source texts, Adapting Nineteenth-Century France reveals the complexities of both nineteenth-century and contemporary notions of originality and authorial borrowing.

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Reviews

'In this volume, key literary works are situated within a highly active network of diverse impulses that extend the critical focus beyond the usual concern of scholars - This major study attentively probes the multimedia and multifaceted dynamics of adaptation.' - Dr Bradley Stephens, School of Modern Languages, University of Bristol 'Griffiths and Watts break new ground in their invigorated intermedial exploration of the adaptive afterlives of leading nineteenth-century French novelists. This significant contribution traverses literary criticism, adaptation studies and media studies, bringing compelling insights, not least in the rarely studied areas of radio and television adaptation.' - Susan Harrow, Ashley Watkins Professor of French, University of Bristol.

'In this volume, key literary works are situated within a highly active network of diverse impulses that extend the critical focus beyond the usual concern of scholars - This major study attentively probes the multimedia and multifaceted dynamics of adaptation.' - Dr Bradley Stephens, School of Modern Languages, University of Bristol 'Griffiths and Watts break new ground in their invigorated intermedial exploration of the adaptive afterlives of leading nineteenth-century French novelists. This significant contribution traverses literary criticism, adaptation studies and media studies, bringing compelling insights, not least in the rarely studied areas of radio and television adaptation.' - Susan Harrow, Ashley Watkins Professor of French, University of Bristol.

Author Information

Kate Griffiths is a Lecturer in French and Translation at Cardiff University, specialising in multi-media adaptation. Andrew Watts is Lecturer in French Studies at the University of Birmingham. His research focuses on adaptations of nineteenth-century prose fiction, with special reference to the work of Honore de Balzac.

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