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Film-Philosophy 17.

1 (2013)
Film-Philosophy ISSN 1466-4615 480
Review: Timothy Corrigan, ed. (2012) Film and Literature: An
Introduction and Reader, 2nd Edition. London and New York:
Routledge.

Shawn Loht
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A leading introductory reader in the burgeoning field of adaptation studies,
this monograph substantially updates and expands upon the first edition,
which appeared in 1999. This new edition features an increased selection of
historical and contemporary readings in adaptation studies, including many
contemporary writings from recent literature. The texts central section of
readings is bookended with major sections written by Corrigan that are
principally student-centered.
As a whole, this work sketches key historical and theoretical views
on the relationship of film and literature. Its reading level is tailored toward
intermediate and advanced undergraduate students. The books target
audience is two different but related course demographics: 1) film studies
courses on film adaptation, and 2) English or other literature studies courses
on literature in film. However, the delivery of this texts content and the
focus of its chapters suggest a definite slant toward film and adaptation
studies. Corrigans introductory section, some forty pages long, places
particular emphasis on the theoretical question of adaptation and on the
historic overlap of film and literature as interrelated adaptive media. The
texts most substantial reading selections treat the relation of film and
literature from the angle of film studies and assume the priority of film as an
independent art form. All in all, the text is most suitable for a film studies
audience with a primary interest in the topic of adaptation, though some
instructors of literature and film may also find it useful as a main course
textbook.
In the texts first main section (Part 1) Corrigan provides a brief but
very rich history of cinema examined from the perspective of its
longstanding association with literature. This section is divided into six
loosely chronological chapters. Corrigan begins with a consideration of
films historic origins in literature and concludes with a look at the topic of
adaptation in wider contemporary media. This part offers a very accessible
and concise introduction to the legacy of films relation to literature, and in
general it makes a compelling case for regarding adaptation as a bona fide
scholarly topic in film and literature studies.
The texts second and main section (Part 2) compiles essays and
excerpts from seminal works in film and media studies, as well as
contemporary writings from recent books and scholarly articles. This part

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Mercer University: shawnloht@gmail.com
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Film-Philosophy ISSN 1466-4615 481
of the text is broken up into six subsections on both general and specialised
topics, totaling 28 different readings, with each reading made into its own
chapter. Corrigan includes at the end of every chapter study questions or
suggested discussion and project topics. The study questions in particular
are well-formulated and will be useful for enhancing student review of the
readings.
Aside from Corrigans historical introduction in Part 1, the
theoretical readings in Part 2 of the book are its best and most important
feature. Especially noteworthy are the five selections in the first,
!Adaptation Studies subsection. These five readings do a fine job of
introducing the historical and contemporary dialogues on adaptation and the
interactivity of literature and film. Readings from Andr Bazin, Dudley
Andrew, Robert Stam, Lawrence Venuti, and Thomas Leitch give a broad
but focused look at the topic of adaptation in film. Leitchs essay in
particular is an elegant, philosophically rich defense of the film genre,
juxtaposed against traditional claims of films status as an often derivative
art form that cannot equal the achievement of literature. The selections
from Stam and Venuti likewise provide sophisticated yet accessible
defenses of adaptation as a legitimate and serious artistic achievement in
film. These two contributions illustrate the theoretical complexity of
adaptation and will appeal to those studying film with a philosophical bent.
The other subsections of Part 2 examine more specific topics in
adaptation. The second subsection, entitled !Adaptations in History,
presents several historical writings that, while not directly engaged with the
topic of adaptation as such, have significance for adaptation studies. The
collective purpose of this particular set of readings is in large part left up to
the reader to discern, as Corrigan does not preface the subsection divisions
with any kind of leading discussion or vignette. This subsection appears to
aim at presenting historical analyses of films relationship to the filmed, in
order to stimulate thought regarding precisely what and how film adapts its
subject matter. Notable reading selections here include excerpts from
Vachel Lindsay, Hugo Mnsterberg, and Sergei Eisenstein. Also included
is a substantial portion of Walter Benjamins second version of !The Work
of Art in the Age of its Technological Reproducibility. As a whole, this
subsection seems a bit disparate and unmotivated in comparison with the
first subsections much stronger theoretical focus.
The third subsection, entitled !Authors and Auteurs, takes up in
three chapters the historically important topic of film authors and directors
considered as auteurs. Those interested in the philosophical question of
precisely what constitutes film authorship and the nature of the sources a
film auteur adapts will find in these chapters some gainful, though basic,
texts. The fourth subsection consists of readings that evaluate the formal
differences of cinema and other media such as theatre, fiction writing, and
non-fiction. Of note in this subsection are substantial readings that excerpt
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George Bluestones Novels into Film and Andr Bazins What is Cinema?
The reading from Bluestone considers the boundaries and intersection
points of film and the fictional novel; the piece from Bazin evaluates the
differences of film acting and theatrical acting. Rounding out this
subsection of the text is an excerpt from Corrigans recent monograph on
the essay film genre. The excerpt may be of interest to film-philosophers
for its engagement with the concept of the literary !essay in the tradition of
Michel de Montaigne and for its exploration of the philosophical essays
grafting onto film. Among all of the texts divisions, this and the fifth
subsection (!Major Writers/Major Films) will be of most service for
students and scholars of literature in film.
The last two subsections of Part 2 are more applicative and extra-
disciplinary. The fifth subsection (!Major Writers/Major Films) takes a
case-study approach, honing in on Shakespeare and Austen as two seminal
examples of literary authors whose work has provided a continuous
foundation for adaptive film. Shakespeare and Austen are ostensibly chosen
because their legacies comprise adaptive genres unto themselves. The two
comparative readings on Shakespeare examine adaptive aspects of Macbeth
in film. The second of the two readings, written by Courtney Lehmann, will
provide an especially rich source for introducing students to the sheer
variety of adaptive modes a work such as Macbeth facilitates. The two
chapters on Austen consider film adaptations of Emma. Like the chapters
on Shakespeare, these selections give a brief but very fruitful look at the
various frames of reference in which Austen has been adapted to the screen.
As a collection, these four chapters will provide an elementary but thorough
foundation for instructors of English literature who want to discuss the
intertextual potential of the great English authors translations into film.
The sixth subsection, entitled !Beyond Film and Literary Texts, is a
bit spottier in its focus. It contains three readings from works by Simone
Murray, Linda Hutcheon and Henry Jenkins. Viewed together, the three
readings seek to locate issues of film adaptation amidst larger conversations
in media studies and cultural anthropology, and their inclusion shows the
cross-disciplinary importance of adaptation beyond just its role for film-
creation. But individually the topics of these three readings are somewhat
narrow, and their underlying messages regarding the interdisciplinary
dimensions of adaptation are already sufficiently addressed in Corrigans
earlier introductory chapters. This last subsection of the texts main part
may be better off left out of the next edition of Film and Literature, unless it
is to be expanded and rendered into a more organic whole.
Part 3, the third and last main section of the text, is an appendix. A
little over twenty pages in length, it contains an analytic glossary of
historically important concepts in film studies and a brief discussion of the
relevance of these concepts for adaptation studies. Part 3 also includes a
short how-to guide for students writing essays on film and literature.
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The principal highlights of this text for film-philosophers are Part 1
and the first subsection of Part 2. The rest of the text, while containing
many interesting and noteworthy readings, will most benefit a student
audience. For film-philosophers and others working in philosophical issues
related to film, this text will primarily be of most use for its handy
collection of primary sources related to theoretical issues of adaptation.
Otherwise, the volume is likely too introductory to lend a hand in research
related to philosophy and film.
For teachers giving courses on adaptation studies or the convergence
of literature and film, this volume offers a lot. The text should work well in
advanced courses in film studies that engage film from a theoretical
perspective. The first half or so of the text will function as an excellent
introduction to adaptation studies for those who wish to teach the topic from
an historical, primary source-based perspective. Approximately the second
half of the text should be especially appropriate for use in courses on
literature in film, though one will likely desire other supplementary items as
well.

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