1. THEORIES OF ADAPTATION
Dr. Sarangpani R. Shinde
Department of English,
Amdar Shashikant Shinde Mahavidyalaya, Medha
2. Adaptation: its meaning
• Accepting and fitting in our situation something which is not our own.
• adapt (v), means to alter and make suitable
• Adaptation : a remaking of something, not necessarily a faithful copy
of it.
• Adapting: transferring something from one medium to another. (in
literature, medium: textual: novel, drama, biography etc. visual:
movies, cartoons/ animations, etc.)
• Adaptation means giving local colouring- accepting a fashion or life
style from other cultures and giving it a local colouring. (eg. Eating
style, fashion)
3. Adaptation in Literature
Movies/Play Director Adapted from the
novel/drama
Author/ Writer
Harry Potter Chris Columbus Harry Potter J K Rolling
James Bond Bryan Forbes James Bond Ian Fleming
Dr. No (First Bond
Movie)
Terence Young Dr. No Ian Fleming
Guide Vijay Anand Guide R K Narayan
Teen Paishacha
Tamasha
P L Deshpande Three Peny Opera Bertolt Brecht
Ti Fulrani P L Deshpande Pygmalion G B Shaw
In literature, the adaptations of one literary form into another or in the same literary form,
in the same language or in different languages, from one medium to another.
4. What is an adaptation?
• Derived from Latin word ‘ adaptare’ which means to fit in.
• A process where something is borrowed (adopted), changed and
fitted into something else.
• Not just a mere reproduction but a constructive process
• It is an adjustment, an alteration, making something suitable, a
reshaping, a remaking of something being adapted
• For Linda Hutchinson, it means to adjust, to alter (बदल) , to make
suitable
5. What is an adaptation?
• In the context of media, it is defined as a movie, tv drama, or a stage
play that has been adapted from a written work, (novel/play).
• In the process of adaptation, the same substantive (मूलभूत) entity
undergo modification – sometimes radical संपूर्ण mutation (अवयव इ.
तोडुन छिन्नछवच्छिन्न करर्े) in order to accommodate (सामावून घेर्े) itself to its
new environment.
• Linda Hutcheon defines it as, an extended, deliberate, announced
revisitation of a particular work of art.
6. Adaptation and Linda Hutcheon
• Linda Hutcheon, a famous Canadian film theorist, known for her
book, A Theory of Adaptation,
• For her, to adapt a work means: to adjust, to alter, to make suitable.
• She gives three interconnected perspectives regarding literary
adaptations.
1. adaptation is an extensive transposition of a literary work
2. adaptation as a process of creation
3. adaptation as a process of reception
7. Transposition (स्थानांतरर्)
• The transposition of a particular work involves the change of medium
or the change of context (संदभण).
• In the process of transposition, interpretations differ as there are
different points of views of a story, a character or a situation.
• eg. Mrutyunjay novel by Shivaji Savant is based on the character of
Karna from Mahabharata, its his point of view of Karna,
• Mi Nathuram Godse Boltoy, a Marathi play is based on the point of
view of Nathuram Godse and his justification, Why he killed Gandhi?
8. A Process of Creation
• The act of adaptation involves, both re-interpretation and re-creation.
• It is also called as appropriation and salvaging.
• Salvaging refers to the act of saving an old text from being forgotten,
or paying homage to previous text.
• Dev D movie by Anurag Kashyap is based on modern point of view of
Devdas,
• Hayder movie is also a modern adaptation of Hamlet
• Omkara movie is a modern hindi adaptation of Othello
• Angoor movie is an adaptation of Comedy of Errors
9. Process of reception
• Reception means the process of appreciation.
• It is the process of taking possession of another’s story
• It is a combination of telling and showing forms of narration.
• Being shown a story is not the same as being told.
10. Points to consider
• Adaptation always reflect the presence of the prior text (original from
which it is being adapted)
• Adaptation is derivation, a work that is second without being
secondary.
• The notion of Fidelity: Linda Hutcheon believes that, films are better
when they are completely faithful to the original
