Cultural politics of adaptation: a study of textual intervention in the transformation of novels into scripts for films

Abstract

This research, “Cultural Politics of Adaptation: A Study of Textual Intervention in the Transformation of Novels into Scripts for Films”, explores the intricate relationship between culture, politics, and literature in the process of adapting English novels into scripts for Tamil films. Focusing on the cultural politics that surround the textual intervention in adaptation, this study investigates the creative choices, modifications, and negotiations made during the transformation of literary works into cinematic narratives. Examining selected English novels, Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine, Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, and Misery by Stephen King, and their corresponding Tamil film adaptations, this research sheds light on the multi- faceted dynamics of intercultural exchange, translation, and representation. The choice of English novels alone (original text), and also the use of Tamil movies as the adapted culture (thereby sticking to a specific culture alone), is one of the limitations of this research. The study investigates the motivations behind the selection of particular English novels for adaptation, the creative decisions made to bridge the cultural gaps between the source material and the target audience, along with the negotiation of cultural identities within the transformed narratives. Additionally, it explores the reception and impact of these adaptations, considering how they contribute to the evolving cultural landscape of Tamil cinema and its engagement with global literary traditions. This research is significant as it provides insights into the cultural politics of adaptation, showcasing how the transformation of English novels into Tamil film scripts becomes a platform for negotiating and contesting cultural values, norms, and ideologies. In the process of examining the textual intervention in the adaptation process, this study illuminates the complexities of intercultural dynamics and the ways in which literature and cinema intersect to shape cultural imagination. Screenwriters often have this tendency to stick to the original story by making a few changes to the real novel. If the scriptwriter belongs to an entirely different cultural background, and his effort is to make a movie for 'that' audience, then the cultural acceptance of the novel also has to be taken into account. Here comes the 'cultural politics' of the scriptwriter into play. Even if the novel is set in a Western background, the scriptwriter is forced to think from the perspective of the audience, before whom he is going to present his work. To make this idea clear, three novels have been selected; each novel has two sets of adaptations, one in the Eastern scenario, here South-Indian, and the other in the Western scenario, here English novels or films. The novels chosen for this purpose are, Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine, Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, and Misery by Stephen King. Madame Doubtfire was adapted into the Robin Williams starrer movie Mrs. Doubtfire, directed by Chris Columbus, and also the Tamil movie starring Kamal Hassan 'in and as' Avvai Shanmughi. The next novel, Sense and Sensibility, has two movies – the Tamil movie Kandukondein Kandukondein, directed by Rajiv Menon, and the English movie Sense and Sensibility, released in 1995 by the Taiwanese director Anglee, for which the script was written by the actor Emma Thompson. Similarly, in the making of the movie Misery by Rob Reiner, except for one or two scenes, the movie is in sync with the novel; but its Tamil adaptation, Julie Ganapathi, has some sentimental elements like family and other relationships coming in. So, to be precise, we have to keep in mind the idea that the background of a movie may change depending on the cultural background of the scriptwriter, especially if the novel is being made into a movie for a foreign audience.