This section of the SOSC 4319 website focuses on theories of narrativity and the particularities of narrative in its translation from text to film. The theories outlined here break down narrative structure into a series of basic elements and examine the medium-specific differences between text and film. The narrative The Sweet Hereafter is used through the various pages of this site to test these theories and examine the art of film adaptation in relation to the very nature of narrative. The Sweet Hereafter tells the story of a small town and the way in which its residents carry on with their lives after an accident leaves a number of their children dead. It was originally written by Russell Banks and published as a novel (1991), but was later adapted to film by Atom Egoyan (1998). This site explores the central narrative, consistent in both, in correspondence with the distinct discourses it follows in each version. Narrative and film adaptation theories are utilized to break down the transformation of the story, and the specific constraints and concerns of the filmic adaptation are explained in detail.

 

 

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This site is broken down into two main categories of theory and practice, with a number of subcategories emerging out of each. The Site Map is useful for getting an overview of the entire site and can be accessed at any time from each individual page, as can this homepage.

 

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