The gideon trilogy adaptation as a narrative tool in creative practice: reflections on the nature of adaptation and a comparison
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Department of English and Comparative Literature Goldsmiths College University of London THE GIDEON TRILOGY ADAPTATION AS A NARRATIVE TOOL IN CREATIVE PRACTICE: REFLECTIONS ON THE NATURE OF ADAPTATION AND A COMPARISON OF NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES IN THE NOVEL AND THE SCREENPLAY Linda Buckley-Archer Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of London 2011
Signed: ………………………………………………………. AbstractThe creative element of this practice-based thesis comprises extracts from a fictional work for children, The Gideon Trilogy. A time-travelling fantasy set in England and America, the novels straddle the late eighteenth- and twenty-first centuries and feature a large cast of child and adult characters. Extracts have been selected either to demonstrate the character development of the Tar Man (an eighteenth-century henchman and eponymous protagonist) or to give a sense of how I have ‘choreographed’ different locations, times and sets of characters within the narrative framework. The critical commentary has two aims. First, it interrogates difference and congruence in narrative techniques in the novel and the screenplay. I reflect, in broad terms, on the nature of adaptation and on the historical relationship between film and the novel. I argue that predominantly negative attitudes to novel-to-screen adaptations have defined the discipline’s preoccupation with authenticity and fidelity to the source text. Drawing on theoretical debates surrounding how narrative functions in prose fiction and cinema, and supporting my arguments with analyses of novels and screenplays, I discuss the creation of narrative viewpoint and the function and usage of character and dialogue in these two forms. Second, using my own work as a test case, I discuss the outcomes of developing a narrative in two media, using sequential and parallel adaptation, and ask if adaptation might be used as a developmental tool in the creation of narratives. AcknowledgementsI should like to express my profound thanks to the poet Maura Dooley and Professor Blake Morrison for all their advice, insights and timely encouragement during the preparation of this thesis. It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work with them. I am also indebted to Professor Chris Baldick, Professor Alan Downie and Dr Michael Simpson of the Department of English and Comparative Literature for their generous assistance during my studies at Goldsmiths College. Finally I would like to gratefully acknowledge the support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council whose award opened up a course of study to me that has enriched my writing practice and has taught me invaluable lessons of a personal, academic and professional nature. Table of Contents 2 Declaration: 2 Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 4 SECTION ONE: CREATIVE TEXTS 12 The Tar Man 13 Chapter One: Oxford Street 14 Chapter Two: The Fall of Snowflakes 21 Chapter Three: Anjali 26 Chapter Five: Altered Skylines 32 Chapter Eight: Inspector Wheeler’s Chinese Takeaway 34 Chapter Twelve: Ghost from the Future 39 Chapter Twenty-One: Dust and Ashes 49 Chapter Twenty-Six: Time Quake 58 Lord Luxon 71 Chapter One: Manhattan 72 Chapter Two: A Spent Rose 74 Chapter Three: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing 82 Chapter Four: St Bartholomew’s Fair 90 Chapter Five: High Treason 102 Chapter Twenty-One: The Tipping Point 117 Chapter Twenty-Three: Tempest House 125 Chapter Twenty-Four: That Bothersome Little Colony 143 Chapter Twenty-Five: The Luxon Wall 149 Chapter Twenty-Six: A Perfect Day 165 Chapter Twenty-Seven: Mr Carmichael’s Homework 169 Chapter Twenty-Eight: Derbyshire 178 SECTION TWO: CRITICAL COMMENTARY 182 INTRODUCTION 184 Remark made during a lecture (Richard Hoggart Lecture Series) at Goldsmiths College, on 10th December, 2008. 188 Remark made during a lecture (Richard Hoggart Lecture Series) at Goldsmiths College, on 10th December, 2008. 188 CHAPTER ONE 192 CHAPTER TWO 206 CHAPTER THREE 224 The dramatist Willy Russell made a comment on similar lines during a script meeting at the BBC in 2006. He argued that: Character is Attitude. The detailed biography, for example, of a homeless girl protagonist was not of interest in terms of the drama, but the fact that she would steal a chip from a child’s plate in a café was. 232 The dramatist Willy Russell made a comment on similar lines during a script meeting at the BBC in 2006. He argued that: Character is Attitude. The detailed biography, for example, of a homeless girl protagonist was not of interest in terms of the drama, but the fact that she would steal a chip from a child’s plate in a café was. 232 CHAPTER FOUR 242 In some ways the question seemed to me a literary version of the Schrödinger's cat paradox (the cat can be deemed alive and dead while it remains in the box). Although the question belongs to a theoretical debate which I am ill qualified to explore, neither have I come across a convincing description or explanation (Cohen’s ‘lowest common denominator’ is too imprecise) of that transformative moment when the germ of a story takes on a specific form. The argument hinges, I would suggest, on whether you judge, for example, that the screenplay can only be deemed a screenplay when you can read the words on the page in script format. If, on the other hand, you take the view that story is first embedded in form in the writer’s mind, the process becomes difficult to quantify. 249 In some ways the question seemed to me a literary version of the Schrödinger's cat paradox (the cat can be deemed alive and dead while it remains in the box). Although the question belongs to a theoretical debate which I am ill qualified to explore, neither have I come across a convincing description or explanation (Cohen’s ‘lowest common denominator’ is too imprecise) of that transformative moment when the germ of a story takes on a specific form. The argument hinges, I would suggest, on whether you judge, for example, that the screenplay can only be deemed a screenplay when you can read the words on the page in script format. If, on the other hand, you take the view that story is first embedded in form in the writer’s mind, the process becomes difficult to quantify. 249 The scene portrays the Tar Man, Kate and Dr Dyer arriving on Hampstead Heath after their journey across the centuries and subsequently shows the Tar Man stealing a horse from a mounted policeman. 254 The scene portrays the Tar Man, Kate and Dr Dyer arriving on Hampstead Heath after their journey across the centuries and subsequently shows the Tar Man stealing a horse from a mounted policeman. 254 See also Tierno (2002). 255 See also Tierno (2002). 255 Francois Jost, a film and adaptation scholar, asserts that: “The notion of the ‘camera eye,’ often used by critics to evoke a neutral and objective description, is now revealed as a dangerous and baseless metaphor […] The semiotic materials of film and novel are not the same, and one cannot mechanically transfer concepts forged in one domain to another domain. But is also useless to try to solve these problems through imprecise metaphors.” (François Jost 79) 257 Francois Jost, a film and adaptation scholar, asserts that: “The notion of the ‘camera eye,’ often used by critics to evoke a neutral and objective description, is now revealed as a dangerous and baseless metaphor […] The semiotic materials of film and novel are not the same, and one cannot mechanically transfer concepts forged in one domain to another domain. But is also useless to try to solve these problems through imprecise metaphors.” (François Jost 79) 257 CONCLUSION 262 “One of the most pervasive aberrations is to imagine that one is a universal reader, shorn of gender, class or that weight of connotations that establish us as we are.” (Ibid. 22) 264 “One of the most pervasive aberrations is to imagine that one is a universal reader, shorn of gender, class or that weight of connotations that establish us as we are.” (Ibid. 22) 264 Recent instances of evolving forms are the novel which interacts with the internet and the ‘fan vidlet’. An example of the former is Tony Di Terlizzi’s The Search for WondLa (2010): by holding up a page from the book to a webcam, readers will see an interactive map appear on the screen of their computer. The ‘fan vidlet’ pirates songs and images and reconfigures them into a different narrative. Dramatist Robert Lepage, too, demonstrates the blurring of boundaries and the evolution of form: “The audience's understanding of narrative structure is very influenced by television and film. If theatre wants to survive and evolve, you have to take that in. I'm not saying it has to become cinematic, but there are ways to use shortcuts to tell stories and the audience has enough cinematic references to understand these shortcuts. It's a rich vocabulary and I always wonder why some people want to go back to the one set, one period, one time-unit way of telling the story when there are ways of bouncing around and creating something more sculptural. It's not that I'm trying to imitate film but I am trying to learn from it.' (Fisher) 264 Recent instances of evolving forms are the novel which interacts with the internet and the ‘fan vidlet’. An example of the former is Tony Di Terlizzi’s The Search for WondLa (2010): by holding up a page from the book to a webcam, readers will see an interactive map appear on the screen of their computer. The ‘fan vidlet’ pirates songs and images and reconfigures them into a different narrative. Dramatist Robert Lepage, too, demonstrates the blurring of boundaries and the evolution of form: “The audience's understanding of narrative structure is very influenced by television and film. If theatre wants to survive and evolve, you have to take that in. I'm not saying it has to become cinematic, but there are ways to use shortcuts to tell stories and the audience has enough cinematic references to understand these shortcuts. It's a rich vocabulary and I always wonder why some people want to go back to the one set, one period, one time-unit way of telling the story when there are ways of bouncing around and creating something more sculptural. It's not that I'm trying to imitate film but I am trying to learn from it.' (Fisher) 264 BIBLIOGRAPHY 270 APPENDICES 275 Academic woman 277 Academic man 277 THE TAR MAN 277 CHILD 278 Dr pirretti 278 Rich elderly lady 278 DR PIRRETTI 278 RICH ELDERLY LADY 278 man's voice 279 A Mother's voice 279 American student 279 A man's voice 279 JOYCE 279 Dr pIRRETTI 280 (v/o) 280 RICH ELDERLY LADY 280 Male guard 280 RICH ELDERLY LADY 280 Guard 281 MALE GUARD 281 GUARD 282 ThE TAR MAN 282 THE TAR MAN 282 MAID 284
MAID 284 LORD LUXON 284 LORD LUXON 285 WILLIAM 285 LORD LUXON 285 PORTER 285 LORD LUXON 285 PORTER 285 LORD LUXON 285 WILLIAM 286 PORTER 286 WILLIAM 286 PORTER 286 WILLIAM 286 PORTER 286 WILLIAM 286 PORTER 286 LORD LUXON 287 MRS STACEY 287 ALICE 287 LORD LUXON 287 MRS STACEY 288 LORD LUXON 288 MRS STACEY 288 ALICE 288 MRS STACEY 288 LORD LUXON 288 ALICE 289 LORD LUXON 289 ALICE 289 LORD LUXON 289 ALICE 289 LORD LUXON 289 LORD LUXON 289 ALICE 289 LORD LUXON 289 ALICE 290 LORD LUXON 290 LORD LUXON 290 ALICE 290 LORD LUXON 290 ALICE 290 LORD LUXON 290 ALICE 290 LORD LUXON 290
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