On the Issue of Adaptation in Restoration Theatre : Some
Theoretical and Methodological Observations

k 2020

On the Issue of Adaptation in Restoration Theatre : Some Theoretical and Methodological Observations

KRAJNÍK, Filip

Basic information

Original name

On the Issue of Adaptation in Restoration Theatre : Some Theoretical and Methodological Observations

Authors

KRAJNÍK, Filip (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution)

Edition

11th Brno International Conference of English, American and Canadian Studies : "Breaking the Boundaries : In Between Texts, Cultures and Conventions", 12–14 February, 2020, Brno, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, 2020

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Prezentace na konferencích

Field of Study

60206 Specific literatures

Country of publisher

Czech Republic

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

References:

URL

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14210/20:00114684

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

Keywords (in Czech)

restaurační divadlo; divadelní adaptace

Keywords in English

Restoration theatre; theatre adaptation

Abstract

V originále

The presentation will be a prolegomena to an upcoming survey study of adaptation(s) in Restoration theatre. While a chapter or a section on Restoration adaptations tends to be included in any substantive companion to Restoration drama, any such endeavour poses certain methodological difficulties and raises several questions. Even nowadays, theatre scholars admit that the term adaptation “eludes definition because it is so context specific”. Some theatre practitioners prefer the word appropriation instead since “adaptation is perceived to be too linked to literary practices and text-based theatre”, suggesting that the concepts are near or complete synonyms. Scholars such as Sanders, however, see a clear difference between the two, maintaining that whereas an adaptation “signals a relationship with an informing source text or original”, an appropriation “frequently affects a more decisive journey away from the informing source into a wholly new cultural product and domain”. None of these terms, however, existed or were commonly applied in the period under study, raising the question of what the object of such a study should be. Restoration adaptive efforts could include anything from thematic inspiration by an older work or genuine attempts to make pre-Commonwealth plays more relevant to the Restoration audience, to cases of plagiarism that were mocked and criticised by playwrights themselves. Another question is the difference in the treatment of domestic (English) and foreign (Continental) sources, the latter of which seems to have been “safer” to borrow without raising authorship controversies. Furthermore, Drábek has recently suggested that translation (being a kind of adaptation) for the early-modern theatre is “far removed from a simple binary of source-target”, suggesting that the traditional textual approach to theatre adaptation is not sufficient and that the issue requires an entirely new methodology. The presentation will, therefore, offer an array of questions about, as well as possible approaches to, the issue of Restoration adaptation and will welcome the audiences’ comments and suggestions for further research.

Links

GA19-07494S, research and development project

Name: Anglická divadelní kultura 1660-1737

Investor: Czech Science Foundation

Citovat

KRAJNÍK, Filip. On the Issue of Adaptation in Restoration Theatre : Some Theoretical and Methodological Observations. In 11th Brno International Conference of English, American and Canadian Studies : "Breaking the Boundaries : In Between Texts, Cultures and Conventions", 12–14 February, 2020, Brno, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University. 2020.

@proceedings{1729216,
   author = {Krajník, Filip},
   booktitle = {11th Brno International Conference of English, American and Canadian Studies : "Breaking the Boundaries : In Between Texts, Cultures and Conventions", 12–14 February, 2020, Brno, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University},
   keywords = {Restoration theatre; theatre adaptation},
   language = {eng},
   title = {On the Issue of Adaptation in Restoration Theatre : Some Theoretical and Methodological Observations},
   url = {https://anglistika.phil.muni.cz/brno2020},
   year = {2020}
}

TY  - CONF
ID  - 1729216
AU  - Krajník, Filip
PY  - 2020
TI  - On the Issue of Adaptation in Restoration Theatre : Some Theoretical and Methodological Observations
KW  - Restoration theatre
KW  - theatre adaptation
UR  - https://anglistika.phil.muni.cz/brno2020
L2  - https://anglistika.phil.muni.cz/brno2020
N2  - The presentation will be a prolegomena to an upcoming survey study of adaptation(s) in Restoration theatre. While a chapter or a section on Restoration adaptations tends to be included in any substantive companion to Restoration drama, any such endeavour poses certain methodological difficulties and raises several questions. Even nowadays, theatre scholars admit that the term adaptation “eludes definition because it is so context specific”. Some theatre practitioners prefer the word appropriation instead since “adaptation is perceived to be too linked to literary practices and text-based theatre”, suggesting that the concepts are near or complete synonyms. Scholars such as Sanders, however, see a clear difference between the two, maintaining that whereas an adaptation “signals a relationship with an informing source text or original”, an appropriation “frequently affects a more decisive journey away from the informing source into a wholly new cultural product and domain”. None of these terms, however, existed or were commonly applied in the period under study, raising the question of what the object of such a study should be. Restoration adaptive efforts could include anything from thematic inspiration by an older work or genuine attempts to make pre-Commonwealth plays more relevant to the Restoration audience, to cases of plagiarism that were mocked and criticised by playwrights themselves. Another question is the difference in the treatment of domestic (English) and foreign (Continental) sources, the latter of which seems to have been “safer” to borrow without raising authorship controversies. Furthermore, Drábek has recently suggested that translation (being a kind of adaptation) for the early-modern theatre is “far removed from a simple binary of source-target”, suggesting that the traditional textual approach to theatre adaptation is not sufficient and that the issue requires an entirely new methodology. The presentation will, therefore, offer an array of questions about, as well as possible approaches to, the issue of Restoration adaptation and will welcome the audiences’ comments and suggestions for further research.
ER  -

KRAJNÍK, Filip. On the Issue of Adaptation in Restoration Theatre : Some Theoretical and Methodological Observations. In \textit{11th Brno International Conference of English, American and Canadian Studies : ''Breaking the Boundaries : In Between Texts, Cultures and Conventions'', 12–14 February, 2020, Brno, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University}. 2020.

Detailed Information on Publication Record