A Multimodal Stylistic Approach to Screen Adaptations of the Work of Alice Munro

Description

This volume brings together perspectives from multimodal stylistics and adaptation studies for a unified theoretical analysis of adaptations of the work of Alice Munro, demonstrating the affordances of the approach in furthering interdisciplinary research at the intersection of these fields The book considers films and television programmes as complex multimodal stylistic systems in and of themselves in order to pave the way for a clearer understanding of screen adaptations as expressions of modal, medial, and aesthetic change. In focusing on Munro, Francesconi draws attention to a writer whose body of work has been adapted widely across television and film for an international market over several decades, offering a diachronic overview and insights into the confluence of socio-cultural contexts, audiences, and dynamics of production and distribution across adaptations. The volume complements this perspective with a microanalysis of the adaptations themselves, exploring the varied creative use of audio-visual dimensions, including sound, light, and movement. The book seeks to overcome simplified fidelity-based understandings of screen adaptations more broadly, showcasing creative multi-layered approaches to a creator’s oeuvre to effect true transformation across media and modes. The volume will be of interest to scholars in multimodality, adaptation studies, film studies, and comparative literature. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Introduction Adapting Clothes, Peaches, and Stories A Panoramic Shot over Adaptations Dissemination of Preliminary Results Volume Outline 1 Adaptation(s) Towards a Definition The Limits and Risks of Fidelity Intertextual Connections Engaging Readers and Spectators Adaptation as Process and as Product 2 Multimodal Stylistic Analysis Multimodal Stylistics A Socio-Semiotic Metafunctional Framework Forms and Functions of Speech Film Dialogues and the Voice-In Screen/Story Boundaries and the Voice-Over Lyrics, Volume, Melodies Words on the Screen Size of Frame and Angles Movements Colour and Light Choices and Changes Beyond the Shot 3 Short Canadian Films Boys and Girls Gender and/as Space Representation Thanks for the Ride Film Music Framing Theme, Time, and Tone All about Connection 4 Extended Canadian Works Lives of Girls and Women Del’s Relationship with Her Mother There Is a Change Coming Writing Things Down Struggle for Cohesion Edge of Madness “A Wilderness Station” as Historiographic Metafiction Patterns of Adaptation Closing in on Madness Changes in the Film Adaptation Away from Her: Closeness and Distance Fiona’s Approach to Her Illness Grant as Husband, Caregiver, and Focaliser Narrating Dementia: Onset, Development, Tricks The Canadian Culture 5 International Screen Adaptations Bending Fate in Hateship Loveship Ankle Socks and Robust Shoes: Johanna Writing Letters as Writing Life Juliet Travelling to Spain Almodóvar’s Story of Adaptation(s) Julieta’s Letter-Writing Scenes Making Logical Connections Clear From Canada to Canaan: An Iranian Journey Criss-Crossing Characters A Disturbance, a Definite Picture, a Dream From Unpainted Houses to the Promised Land Concluding Remarks Index