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Other library resource(s)
Adaptation from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Call Number: Electronic resourceISBN: 9780199791286Although this annotated bibliography concentrates on film, there is a section about television adaptations.
Film and literature from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Call Number: Electronic resourceIn general, when scholars have considered the question of literature and film, they have conceived it in a rather narrow fashion as the study of adaptation—from literary to filmic works. In fact, the reader can consult a different entry in this bibliography that focuses on Adaptation and Film. The present entry, however, is not about adaptation. Rather, it attempts to expand the discussion of the study of literature and film by taking a broader approach that examines texts whose central focus is not adaptation but some of the larger (and potentially more interesting) ways in which the two media intersect, for example, stylistic, formal, thematic, or cultural parallels or differences; theoretical links (e.g., similarities or contrasts between word and image); industrial connections (book publishing vs. film distribution); historical ties (the coming of sound in relation to theater); artists who work in both media (e.g., David Mamet, Marguerite Duras, Paul Auster); and the nature of authorship in each form. ...
A definition for 'Adaptation'
A pre-existing work that has been made into a film. Adaptations are often of literary or theatrical works, but musical theatre, best-selling fiction and non-fiction, comic books, computer games, children’s toys, and so on have also been regularly adapted for the cinema. Adaptations of well-known literary and theatrical texts were common in the silent era (see silent cinema; costume drama; epic film; history film) and have been a staple of virtually all national cinemas through the 20th and 21st centuries. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) and Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories (1887–1927) have been adapted in a range of national contexts but probably the most adapted author is Shakespeare, whose plays have appeared in film form as a large-budget Hollywood musical (West Side Story (Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, US, 1961)), a historical epic set in feudal Japan (Kumonosu-jo/Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1957)), a Bollywood musical (Angoor (Gulzar, India, 1982)), and a children’s animation (The Lion King (Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, US, 1994)), to name but a few. Adaptations often sit within cycles associated with a particular time and place, as with the British heritage film in the 1980s (see cycle). It is claimed that adaptations account for up to 50 per cent of all Hollywood films and are consistently rated amongst the highest grossing at the box office, as aptly demonstrated by the commercial success of recent adaptations of the novels of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Other varied US adaptations include: computer games (Resident Evil (Paul W.S. Anderson, 2002)), graphic novels (Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff, 2001)), comic books (The Avengers (Joss Whedon, 2012)); see also cinematic universe; superhero film), and children’s toys (Transformers: The Last Knight (Michael Bay, 2017)). A number of films also display a certain level of self-reflexivity regarding the process of adaptation, as can be seen in Adaptation (Spike Jonze, US, 2002) and The LEGO Movie (Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, 2012). A property ripe for adaptation is referred to as pre-sold; older works in particular are attractive to film producers because they are often out of copyright (see Deal, the). ...
Kuhn, A., & Westwell, G. (2020). Adaptation. In A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 31 May. 2023
In the Library's collections
The following are useful subject headings for searching the online catalog. The books on adapting source materials for films are shelved in the call number range PN 1997.85 on Baker Level 4.
- television authorshipBooks about television authorship are shelved in PN 1992.7 or PN 1996 on Baker Level 4.
- television plays techniqueBooks on this subject are in the call number range PN 1996 on Baker Level 4.
- shakespeare william 1564 1616 television adaptationsThis is an example subject search for adaptations for a specific author.
Introductory reading(s)
The Cambridge companion to literature on screen by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1997.85 .C26 2007ISBN: 9780521849623This Companion offers a multi-disciplinary approach to literature on film and television. Writers are drawn from different backgrounds to consider broad topics, such as the issue of adaptation from novels and plays to the screen, canonical and popular literature, fantasy, genre and adaptations for children. There are also case studies, such as Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the nineteenth-century novel and modernism, which allow the reader to place adaptations of the work of writers within a wider context. ...
The classic serial on television and radio by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1992.3 .G7 G44 2001ISBN: 9780333713884The classic serial, invented by BBC Radio Drama sixty years ago, survived and adapted itself to television, the arrival of colour and the global market in what has become a flood of classics with all channels competing for ratings and overseas sales. This richly detailed book traces these developments and analyses the genre's response to social, economic, technical and cultural changes, which have re-shaped it into the form we recognise today. The book contains considerable interview material with performers and media professionals.
Remake television: reboot, re-use, recycle by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780739183335Remakes are pervasive in today's popular culture, whether they take the form of reboots, "re-imaginings," or overly familiar sequels. Television remakes have proven popular with producers and networks interested in building on the nostalgic capital of past successes (or giving a second chance to underused properties). Some TV remakes have been critical and commercial hits, and others haven't made it past the pilot stage; all have provided valuable material ripe for academic analysis. In Remake Television: Reboot, Re-use, Recycle contributors from a variety of backgrounds offer multicultural, multidisciplinary perspectives on remake themes in popular television series, from classic cult favorites such as The Avengers (1961-69) and The X-Files (1993-2002) to current hits like Doctor Who (2005-present) and The Walking Dead (2010-present).
Selected book title(s)
Adapting science fiction to television: small screen, expanded universe by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1992.8 .T45 S39 2015ISBN: 9781442252691Before it reached television, science fiction existed on the printed page, in comic books, and on movie screens for decades. Adapting science fiction to the new medium posed substantial challenges: Small viewing screens and limited production facilities made it difficult to achieve the sense of wonder that had become the genre's hallmark. Yet, television also offered unprecedented opportunities. Its serial nature allowed for longer, more complex stories, as well as developing characters and building suspense over time. ...
Chaucer on screen: absence, presence, and adapting the Canterbury tales by Call Number: Baker-Berry PR 1872 .C47 2016ISBN: 9780814253724Unlike William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and other great authors who have enjoyed continued success in Hollywood, Geoffrey Chaucer has largely been shunted to the margins of the cinematic world. Chaucer on Screen: Absence, Presence, and Adapting the Canterbury Tales investigates the various translations of Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales to film and television, tracing out how the legacies of the great fourteenth-century English poet have been revisited and reinterpreted through visual media.
Screen plays: theatre plays on British television by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780719097928Screen Plays is a ground-breaking collection that chronicles the rich and surprising history of stage plays produced for the small screen between 1930 and the present. The volume opens with a substantial historical outline of how plays originally written for the theatre have been presented by the BBC and ITV, as well as independent producers and cultural organisations. Subsequent chapters utilise a variety of critical methodologies to analyse a wide range of outside broadcasts from theatres, screen adaptations of existing stage productions, along with original television productions of classic and contemporary drama. ...
Who is Sherlock?: essays on identity in modern Holmes adaptations by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .S5 W56 2016ISBN: 9780786499076Nearly 130 years after the introduction of Sherlock Holmes to readers, the Great Detective's identity is being questioned, deconstructed, and reconstructed more than ever. Readers and audiences, not to mention scholars and critics, continue to analyze who Sherlock Holmes is or has become and why and how his identity has been formed in a specific way.
Wuthering Heights on film and television: a journey across time and cultures by Call Number: Baker-Berry PR 4172 .W73 H429 2015ISBN: 9781783204922Emily Brontë's beloved novel Wuthering Heights has been adapted countless times for film and television over the decades. Valérie V.Hazette offers here a historical and transnational study of those adaptations, presenting the afterlife of the book as a series of cultural journeys that focuses as much on the readers, filmmakers, and viewers as on the dramas themselves. ...
Finding scholarly articles & journal title(s)
Articles and other writings about television adaptations can be found in many publications. Our collection has one journal that looks exclusively at adaptations of all types and it is called Adaptation. You can use Film & Television Literature Index or the search box at the top of the page to find articles.
Adaptation: the journal of literature on screen studiesCall Number: Electronic journalThis is a unique journal about literature transformed onto the screen.
Film & television literature indexCall Number: Electronic resourceThis index covers over 300 journal and magazine titles for film and television reviews, scholarly and critical analysis of cinema and television, and articles of popular interest about film and television. About half the journals and magazines are film periodicals and the other half cover film and television with some regularity. Subject coverage includes film & television theory, preservation & restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews.
The web of science citation databases by Call Number: Electronic resourceThe online version of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and, Social Sciences Citation Index.
Adapted TV programs
Here is a short list of adapted television located in the Jones Media Center or available through streaming. Find more titles in the library's online catalog.
And then there were none by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #19805It's 1939 and Europe teeters on the brink of war. Ten strangers are invited to Indian Island, an isolated rock near the Devon coast in southern England. Cut off from the mainland, with their generous hosts Mr. and Mrs. U.N. Owen mysteriously absent, they are each accused of a terrible crime. As each member of the party starts to die one by one, the survivors realize that one of them is a killer and start to turn on each other.
Grease live! by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #20947ISBN: 9786316366917Danny and Sandy have a great summer romance, but when they get back to their high school, the magic is not as strong. This show was a live one night musical production of the massively popular crossover musical. Featuring a young ensemble cast, they reintroduce and re-imagine some of the show's most memorable moments, great music, and timeless love story to an entirely new generation.
The hollow crown. The war of the rosesCall Number: Jones Media DVD #20279The concluding cycle of The Hollow Crown, subtitled The Wars of the Roses. Henry VI, Parts I and II and Richard III tell the story of an exceptionally turbulent period in British history. These exhilarating and emotionally charged films feature some of Shakespeare's most eloquent and powerful language.
The Last ship. The second seasonCall Number: Jones Media DVD # 20932With a cure for the Red Virus and the goal to save the human race, Navy Captain Tom Chandler and his crew return to the States unsure of what they will find. As the crew seeks to find survivors and their families, they encounter a new, emerging enemy who's vying for control and may hinder the mass production of the cure.
The Tunnel by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #20121ISBN: 9781627896320When a prominent French politician is found dead on the border between the UK and France, detectives Karl Roebuck and Elise Wassermann are sent to investigate on behalf of their respective countries. The case takes a surreal turn when a shocking discovery is made at the crime scene, forcing the French and British police into an uneasy partnership.
Keeping up with the journal literature
Want an easy way to keep up with the journal literature for all facets of Film Studies? And you use a mobile device? You can install the BrowZine app and create a custom Bookshelf of your favorite journal titles. Then you will get the Table of Contents (ToCs) of your favorite journals automatically delivered to you when they become available. Once you have the ToC's you can download and read the articles you want.
You can get the app from the App Store or Google Play.
Don't own or use a mobile device? You can still use BrowZine! It's now available in a web version. You can get to it here. The web version works the same way as the app version. Find the journals you like, create a custom Bookshelf, get ToCs and read the articles you want.