Abstract:
1. Introduction With the immergence and overwhelming outspread of the consumption of the modern video culture, directors and producers have had the opportunity to employ literary masterpieces for their subject matter and hence, reel in huge profit. 2. Aims The present study aims to thoroughly analyze three filmic adaptations of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (1949). In so doing, it is crucial to study the play in the first place. In the next step, the researcher aims to bring to light the dominant discourses and culture of each film’s period of production. The analysis of each adaptation encompasses the ideologies and the mindset of each director and adapter. These different directors and adapters are then compared to each other so as to further bring to light their discourses, not to mention the process of transposition each adaptation has experienced. 3. Methodology What makes this study quite innovative is its comparative aspect. The general framework of this study is Comparative Literature as adaptation studies are considered a major branch of comparative methodology. Contextualization is another critical methodology, which brings to the fore the study of major discourses of the time and place of adaptations. The “wh” questions asked by Linda Hutcheon for the delineation of the creative or faithful process an adaptor has gone through in making an adaptation is the first and foremost important theory applied in this study. The next theory applied is that of George Bluestone who analyzes three areas between literature and film. These areas encompass such aspects as linguistic and image, consciousness and inner thoughts and representation of women. Kamilla Elliot, the next theorist employed, introduces six concepts for adaptation through which different types of adaptation process are delineated. 4. Findings and Conclusion The study comes to find that Benedek and Segal’s adaptations which were produced at a time when America was doing away with Communism as a whole, fail to portray the failure of the American Dream, the theme of the play. Henceforth, the Lomans’ life failure is shown to be the result of the mental demise of the protagonist. German expressionist Schlondörff’s expressionist adaptation being produced at a time when the masses were coming to a consensus that the American Dream is unlikely to come true, fully ad freely depicts the destructive result of the American Dream.
Machine summary:
The aforementioned adaptations are based on the tripartite theories of George Bluestone, which shows visualization, the depiction of women, and the psychological states of the characters in each adaptation; also, Linda Hutcheon and her questions, which ultimately reveal adherence to the text or the innovations of the directors, have been investigated.
Laszlo Benedek, Alex Segal, Volker Schlondorf, Comparative Literature, Adaptation, Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman, Film Date received: 2020/05/12 Date of final acceptance: 2020/12/05 (DOI): 10.
The purpose of this research has been to read the films of Laszlo Benedek (1951), Alex Segal (1966), and Volker Schlondo (1985) from the perspective of adaptation theories of theorists such as George Bluestone, Robert Stam, Linda Hutcheon, Camilla Eliot, and Louise Giananti; consequently, the adaptations by the aforementioned directors, which are the result of their interpretation of the play, have been investigated.
In this study, for the first time, adaptations of the 1951 American drama film directed by Laszlo Benedek, the 1966 American television film directed by Alex Segal, and the 1985 television drama by Volker Schlondo titled Death of a Salesman were compared in terms of the theories of the aforementioned theorists.
3. Conclusion In this research, the application of the adaptation and comparative theories of George Bluestone, Robert Stam, Linda Hutcheon, Camilla Elliott, and Louise Giananti to the cinematic and television adaptations of László Benedek (1951), Alex Segal (1966), and Volker Schlondorff (1985) is as follows.
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