A Theory of Adaptation (review)

Linda Hutcheon’s new book on adaptation begins with the statement, “[a]dapting is a bit like redecorating,” which is an apt description of what is happening across the media landscape today. Interior design shows have revitalized countless homes with new paint and selective staging, bestselling novels have revisited familiar characters and settings without their original authors, film narratives move from the screen to the stage then back to the screen in a few short years, and video games extend classic films and television programs in order to allow gamers to navigate (and often shoot their way) through familiar cinematic environments. With an understanding of this new terrain, A Theory of Adaptation supplements comparative adaptation theory with a critical overview of the entire process of adaptation—the what, who, why, how, where, and when of media incarnations based on previous works. In doing so, Hutcheon stages a new approach to evaluating the adaptation that considers not only narrative strategies, but also the mediums in which they are presented.

The structure of the book provides a concise overview of the exchanges that occur during the process of adaptation across various media forms. Following the lead of Robert Stam, Hutcheon moves the argument about adaptation beyond fidelity, which seems primarily invested in chasing loss, into far more productive critical territory. The first section of the book addresses issues of audience reception related to adapted works. What makes this approach unique is that Hutcheon is interested in understanding the experience of adaptation. She notes: “Part of this pleasure, I want to argue, comes simply from repetition with variation, from the comfort of ritual combined with the piquancy of surprise” (4). Hutcheon identifies a primary industrial imperative within the contemporary entertainment industry, which is a pattern of repetitive media consumption across a range of forms. For this reason, adaptations dominate the media landscape from video games to television spin-offs to webisodes, establishing what producers hope will be an ongoing entertainment experience without boundaries. Hutcheon draws us into a study of the “politics of intertextuality” (xii) in order to understand that adaptations exist not in a hierarchy of source material and recreation, but rather as works that are in dialogue.

Chapter 2 covers the exchanges between telling and showing in relation to media specificity. Hutcheon gives special attention to the aspects of performance, specifically interpretations encompassing gesture, dialogue, and the voice—areas of media studies that have often been neglected in the past. She even extends this analysis of gesture into the area of video games, which is highly relevant to this emerging entertainment form and new media theory. Subsequently, chapter 3 deals with the “who” and “why” of the adaptation, specifically considering authorship as “interpretation” with the understanding that media production is collaborative on every level. Hutcheon presents this analysis against the backdrop of intellectual property concerns, specifically the legal constraints related to availability of rights, even with works in the public domain. The “why” of adaptation is expanded to consider the nature of cultural capital. For example, media producers must constantly evaluate the viability of an adaptation through an understanding of the audience’s previous awareness of a story and often match this with the institutional imperatives of the distributors, whether that might be PBS or a specific theatrical company, which caters to specific demographics or audiences. The final chapters of the book address the how, when, and where of the adaptation process, in which Hutcheon connects adaptation to the larger cultural field, specifically to celebrity, current events, and transcultural considerations of race and gender. This analysis becomes particularly important as Hollywood reaches beyond its borders to borrow stories from other nations to create films like The Departed and Vanilla Sky.

Hutcheon avoids extended case studies, opting instead for examples drawn from many sources in a form of meta-analysis. This approach is simultaneously a strength and weakness. Overall, the author demonstrates an extensive command of examples from novels, the stage, film, and even radio and theme parks, but an extended examination...