LFU:online

Institut für Amerikastudien Institut für Amerikastudien

Johannes Mahlknecht Johannes Mahlknecht

610004

American Literature: "The Film is Better Than the Book": American Literature and its Screen Adaptations

PS 2

5

wöch.

keine Angabe

Englisch

From the earliest days of cinema, filmmakers have relied on works of literature for bringing their stories into the movie theater. But transforming words into images can be highly problematic, especially if one tries to keep the spirit of the source material intact. In order to avoid overlength, chunks of a novel are simply left out; characters may behave differently on the screen than they did on paper; new scenes are added and endings are altered. In this Proseminar, we will compare various American novels, short stories, and plays as well as their respective screen adaptations, and we will discuss the (im-)possibilities of remaining faithful to the original while at the same time creating a new and independent work of art. Compulsory readings and viewings include L. Frank Baum’s _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz_ / Victor Fleming’s _The Wizard of Oz_ (1939); Edward Albee’s _Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf_ / Mike Nichol’s _Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?_ (1966); Philip K. Dick’s _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?_ / Ridley Scott’s _Blade Runner_(1982); and Chuck Palahniuk’s _Fight Club_ / David Fincher’s _Fight Club_ (1999).

active class participation, presentations, term paper

Anmeldungsvoraussetzung/en im BA: positive Beurteilung der Pflichtmodule 3 und 16 Entspricht im Diplomstudium (343): PS2: American Literature Entspricht im Lehramtsstudium (344): PS2: American Literature
Beginn: 6.10.2009