Framing Empire

Postcolonial Adaptations of Victorian Literature in Hollywood

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by Jerod Ra’Del Hollyfield

Type: Studies
Subject: Technique > Adaptation
Keywords: adaptation, literature
Publishing date: 2018
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Language: English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Hardcover • 216 pages
6 x 9 ¼ inches (15.5 x 23.5 cm)

ISBN

978-1-4744-2994-8

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Book Presentation:
Examines how postcolonial filmmakers negotiate national identities in Hollywood-supported Victorian literature adaptations
• Bridges the fields of postcolonial theory, film studies, film adaptation and Victorian literature
• Examines the socio-political context of diverse postcolonial nations, including India, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Egypt and Sudan
• Contains case studies of eight postcolonial film adaptations
• Discusses the relationship between postcolonial theory and globalization, especially through its attention to the Hollywood film industry’s global reach
• Places the United States within a postcolonial context, tracing its evolution from settler colony to global superpower through historical analysis of the Hollywood film industry

This book examines postcolonial filmmakers adapting Victorian literature in Hollywood to contend with both the legacy of British imperialism and the influence of globalized media entities. Since decolonization, postcolonial writers and filmmakers have re-appropriated and adapted texts of the Victorian era as a way to ‘write back’ to the imperial centre. At the same time, the rise of international co-productions and multinational media corporations have called into question the effectiveness of postcolonial rewritings of canonical texts as a resistance strategy. With case studies of films like Gunga Din, Dracula 2000, The Portrait of a Lady, Vanity Fair and Slumdog Millionaire, this book argues that many postcolonial filmmakers have extended resistance beyond revisionary adaptation, opting to interrogate Hollywood’s genre conventions and production methods to address how globalization has affected and continues to influence their homelands.

About the Author:
JEROD RA’DEL HOLLYFIELD is an Associate Professor of Film Studies and Communication at Carson-Newman University. His work has been published in several journals and edited collections, and his short film Goodfriends has been exhibited at film festivals and was endorsed by national disability organisations. He is the creator of The Assisted Stories Project, a collection of video essays that aims to preserve and promote the narratives of the American South's elder population.

Press Reviews:
"Interfidelity," combining a film adaptation’s faithfulness to its source text and culture with its ability to talk back to them, may sound like an oxymoron. In the hands of Jerod Ra’Del Hollyfield, however, it becomes a potent tool for examining eight Hollywood adaptations that open urgent new questions about Victorian classics, colonial discourse, and filmmaking industry practices. Anyone who writes about the politics of adaptation should read Hollyfield, and anyone who writes about adaptation in any context should come to terms with his challenge to consider adaptation as a mode of resistance.– Professor Thomas M. Leitch, University of Delaware

See the publisher website: Edinburgh University Press

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