This article starts off from a distinction between an Aristotelian and a semiotic understanding of art to analyse the lines of continuity between a sourcetext and its adaptations. Thus, it contrasts Shakespeare’s Macbeth to Ángel-Luis Pujante’s Spanish translation of the play, to Welcome Msomi’s stage adaptation (uMabatha), and to two film adaptations by Akira Kurosawa (Kumonos jô) and Billy Morrissette (Scotland, PA), to examine the persistence of the mythos (or Aristotelian plot) in the adaptation process and question the extent to which the Shakespearean play is still available if the sourcetext is effaced. It explores the mechanisms of repetition/reproduction and difference/transformation of the adaptation process, and defends a relationship of cultural codependency between sourcetext and adaptation.
Analele Ştiinţifice ale Universităţii "Ovidius" Constanţa. Seria Filologie
Volum 1 | Număr 22 | Publicat la 01/09/2011 | ISSN 1223-7248
Recurring Elements of The Macbeth Mythos
This article starts off from a distinction between an Aristotelian and a semiotic understanding of art to analyse the lines of continuity between a sourcetext and its adaptations. Thus, it contrasts Shakespeare’s Macbeth to Ángel-Luis Pujante’s Spanish translation of the play, to Welcome Msomi’s stage adaptation (uMabatha), and to two film adaptations by Akira Kurosawa (Kumonos jô) and Billy Morrissette (Scotland, PA), to examine the persistence of the mythos (or Aristotelian plot) in the adaptation process and question the extent to which the Shakespearean play is still available if the sourcetext is effaced. It explores the mechanisms of repetition/reproduction and difference/transformation of the adaptation process, and defends a relationship of cultural codependency between sourcetext and adaptation.