CFP: The Power of Adaptation for Unlocking Literary Texts

Panel
Northeast Modern Languages Association annual convention
Baltimore, MD
March 10-13, 2022
Stichtag: 30.09.2021

Literary scholars and literature instructors have often traditionally evaluated adaptations of classic literary works as somehow inferior to the original text.  This perception is linked to the notion central to adaptation studies that visual and film media, for example, must justify their level of quality, with print literature occupying the superior aesthetic spot. Additionally, literary purists would argue that adaptations not only simplify the originals but also reduce the opportunities for individual interpretations, especially in the case of film or comic adaptations with their visual dimension.  

This panel seeks to highlight the aesthetic quality and pedagogical value of literary adaptations, arguing that the study of literary adaptations invites a larger range of interpretations and provides broader access to linguistically and contextually challenging original literary classics. 

Possible topics could include but are not limited to:     

  • the positive application of literary adaptations in literature courses
  • comic and/or film adaptations in dialogue with original texts
  • literary adaptations as supplementary and not necessarily contradictory to original texts 
  • theorizing visual narratives/interpretations of literature
  • literary adaptations as aesthetically rich works in their own rights

Please submit abstracts of up to 300 words by September 30, 2021 through the NeMLA portal: https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/19487

NOTE: The abstract portal will be open from June 15, 2021 until September 30, 2021.