English 329-001
Film and Literature
Instr: Schneider, Benjamin
Office: CRT 474; 229-3935
e-mail: terrapin@uwm.edu
Office hours:
Course Information: M&W; 1:00-2:50pm; CRT 104
Course Description
Students in this course will explore approaches to the art, theory, and cultural politics of movie adaptations. Through readings and screenings, students will be asked to interrogate these and other questions: What is the nature of the "literary" and the "cinematic"? Why do so many of the films described as adaptations derive from canonical literature rather than from other sources? How do the different media affect the ways in which stories are told? Why is the book always "better" than the movie? To support students in developing and focusing their own theories of adaptation, we will also be reading selected adaptation theory and criticism, including writings by Andre Bazin, Robert Stam, and Judith Mayne. Our primary texts might include Fight Club, Devil in a Blue Dress, Contempt, and The Handmaid's Tale.
