Literature and Film

Students will work towards several goals:

• to become familiar with the key terminology of film and adaptation studies,
• to gain insight into the development/history of film and the interplay of film with literature and theatre,
• to develop methods of analysing different media and thus also to develop critical thought in the context of intertextuality and intermediality,
• to formulate interpretations of texts and their transfer to film, and to critically evaluate and contextualise selected examples,
• to learn about the specificities of Slovenian cinema and its place in the context of European and world filmography.

There are no enrolment or degree requirements for the course.

The course focuses on the interplay and interaction between literature (including plays and comics) and film.
Since the earliest days of cinema, film has drawn on literary and theatrical sources. In recent years, the critical study of film adaptations has expanded far beyond a focus on the fidelity of the adaptation of a literary work for the screen, and has opened up productive questions about the complex relations between the copy and the original, the nature of intertextuality and intermediality. The main highlights of the course are:

• a brief overview of the history of film,
• introduction to the basic terminology in the field of film and adaptation studies,
• introduction to the fundamental laws of the film medium (photography, lighting, montage, special effects, etc.),
• reflection on how literary and dramatic texts are translated onto the screen and what this means for the message of the chosen story; what are the opportunities and challenges of transferring a story from one medium to another,
• the course offers insight into the abovementioned questions through a set of case studies: each of them will explore the relationship between a film and the 'original' it is based upon. Film will be considered as an art form that can draw on other art forms but also functions as a medium in its own right. We will ask ourselves how adaptation transforms, enriches, or perhaps impoverishes a literary or dramatic 'template',
• a variety of different literary forms and genres will serve as templates, from more traditional, classical templates to stories in the form of graphic novels. We will also cover different time and geographical spaces,
• we will use principles of literary theory, history and criticism, as well as film and adaptation studies.

The films which will be highlighted:
- Ne ubijaj slavca (roman Harper Lee, 1960; film To Kill a Mockingbird l. 1962, dir. Robert Mulligan)
- Prevzetnost in pristranost (roman Jane Austin, 1813; film Pride and Prejudice l. 2005, dir. Joe Wright)
- Hamlet (drama William Shakespeare, 1599-1601; izbrana adaptacija iz l. 1996, dir. Kenneth Branagh)
- Atonement (Pokora) (roman Ian McEwan, 2001; film Atonement l. 2007, dir. Joe Wright; primerjava dveh del istega režiserja)
- Watchmen (Varuhi) (strip Alan Moore, 1986-1987; film Watchmen l. 2009, dir. Zack Snyder)
- Črni dnevi in beli dan (roman Dominik Smole, 1958; film Ples v dežju l. 1961, dir. Boštjan Hladnik)
- Triptih Agate Schwarzkobler (roman Rudi Šeligo, 1968; film Triptih Agate Schwarzkobler l. 1997, dir. Matjaž Klopčič)
- and clips from films that have shaped the history of cinema (the Lumière brothers, Georges Méliès, Charlie Chaplin,...).

The students learn:

• the principles and terminology of the film medium
• different approaches to the adaptation of literary and dramatic works
• the history of film art (short overview)
• develop the ability to analyse and interpret different genres and narrative modes (film vs. literary/theatre)
• develop the ability to critically assess and evaluate different approaches to adaptation
• renew (deepen) their knowledge of literary theory and criticism and learn to apply selected approached to film studies
• have the ability to think about narrative and narrativity in the context of intertextuality and intermediality.

Basic:

• Bazin, André. Kaj je film? (2010). [Prevod Katja Kraigher, Uroš Zorman, Jasmina Žgank; spremna beseda Nil Baskar]. Ljubljana : Društvo za širjenje filmske kulture Kino!. Catalogue
• Desmond, John in Hawkes, Peter. (2005). Adaptation. Studying Film and Literature. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
• Flis, Leonora. (2020). Grafične pripovedi in pripovednost. Primerjalna književnost. letn. 43, št. 1, str. 51-74. E-version
• Kristin Thompson & David Bordwell (ur.). (2009) Svetovna zgodovina filma, Slovenska kinoteka. Catalogue
• Vrdlovec, Zdenko. Zgodovina slovenskega filma. (2010). Radovljica: Didakta. Catalogue
• Zorman, Barbara (2009). Sence besede: filmske priredbe slovenske literature: (1948-1979). Koper: Založba Annales.

Additional:

• Rugelj, Samo (ur.). (2007). Knjiga o filmu. Ljubljana: UMco: Slovenska kinoteka. Catalogue
• Seger, Linda. (1992) The Art of Adaptation: Turning Fact And Fiction Into Film. New York: Owl Books.
• Štefančič, Marcel, jr.(2005) Na svoji zemlji: zgodovina slovenskega filma. Ljubljana: Umco. Catalogue
• Zorman, Barbara. (2008). Film in literatura: primerjave, izmenjave, priredbe. Primerjalna književnost, letn. 31, št. 2, str. 93-112. E-version
• Vrdlovec, Zdenko. (1989). Filmska naratologija. Ekran: revija za film in televizijo, letn. 26, št. 5/6, str. 28-33. E-version
• Vrdlovec, Zdenko. (2002). Knjiga in kino. Literatura, letn. 14, št. 127/128, str. 81-95.

The materials will also be taken from Slovene and international film and literary journals

• Ekran Catalogue E-version
• Film Comment E-version
• Cahiers du Cinema E-version E-version
• Primerjalna književnost Catalogue E-version
• Dialogi E-version

• seminar paper 40 %

• oral exam 60 %

Associate Professor Leonora Flis 's work focuses on literary theory, contemporary English and American literature, film (especially in relation to literature), graphic novels and literary journalism. She also writes book and film reviews, translates and writes fiction. She published her first collection of short stories Upogib časa in 2015 and her second book of short stories, titled Enakozvočja, in 2022. In 2011, she was awarded a Fulbright Research Fellowship and was a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York. She also writes radio programs with literary content and hosts discussions on literature, film and literary journalism. In 2010, she published a scholarly monograph, Factual Fictions: Narrative Truth and the Contemporary American Novel.
She has attended several international conferences and symposia, and has publishes scholarly and professional articles in Slovene and foreign journals and books.

• FLIS, Leonora. Nan Shepherdʹs holistic world - an intimate triangle : nature, body and mind in the living mountain. V: DUŢU, Carmen (ur.). Representations, scenes and scenarios of intimacy in women’s writing. Bucureşti: Pro Universitaria, 2023. Str. 81-95. ISBN 978-606-26-1415-7. https://repozitorij.ung.si/IzpisGradiva.php?id=8312. [COBISS.SI-ID 159100419]
• FLIS, Leonora. The narrative of social (in)justice, feminism, and migration in Slavenka Drakulić's selected works. Dve domovini : razprave o izseljenstvu. [Tiskana izd.]. 2023, [št.] 58, str. 127-144. ISSN 0353-6777. https://ojs.zrc-sazu.si/twohomelands/article/view/13203/11576, http://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:doc-VFRV4BE6, DOI: 10.3986/2023.2.07. [COBISS.SI-ID 160461571], [SNIP, Scopus]
• FLIS, Leonora. Factual fictions: narrative truth and the contemporary American documentary novel. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 2010. XII, 254 str. ISBN 9781-4438-24130-2. ISBN 1-4438-2413-5. [COBISS.SI-ID 44359522].
• FLIS, Leonora. Med leposlovjem in poročanjem. Sodobnost. okt. 2021, letn. 85, št. 10, str. 1279-1292. ISSN 0038-0482. [COBISS.SI-ID 84567555]
• FLIS, Leonora. Social engagement and multiculturalism in Louis Adamic's literary journalism and documentary prose. Dve domovini : razprave o izseljenstvu. [Tiskana izd.]. 2020, št. 51, str. 59-75. ISSN 0353-6777. DOI: 10.3986/dd.2020.1.04. [COBISS.SI-ID 45984557].
• FLIS, Leonora. Grafične pripovedi in pripovednost. Primerjalna književnost. [Tiskana izd.]. maj 2020, letn. 43, št. 1, str. 51-74, ilustr. ISSN 0351-1189. DOI: 10.3986/pkn.v43.i1.03. [COBISS.SI-ID 18156803].
• FLIS, Leonora. Družbeni angažma v literarnem novinarstvu Louisa Adamiča. V: DAUGUL, Larisa (ur.). Strpnost ni dovolj: prispevki s konference Iz mnogih dežel: ob 120. obletnici rojstva Louisa Adamiča, (Borec, ISSN 0006-7725, letn. 70 (2018), št. 751-753). Ljubljana: Sophia. 2018, [Letn.] 70, št. 751/753, str. [140]-149, 217-218. [COBISS.SI-ID 36010333].
• FLIS, Leonora. Joe Sacco in literarno novinarstvo v podobi stripa - žanrski preplet literature, stripa, novinarstva in zgodovine. V: ZORMAN, Barbara (ur.), et al. Literatura in gibljive slike : tematski sklop = Literature and moving images : thematic section. Ljubljana: Slovensko društvo za primerjalno književnost, 2014. Letn. 37, št. 2, str. 195-225, [245], ilustr. Primerjalna književnost, letn. 37, št. 2. ISSN 0351-1189. [COBISS.SI-ID 55123042].
• FLIS, Leonora. Profiling war : managing trauma in reporting horror : the case of Boštjan Videmšek. V: JOSEPH, Sue (ur.). Profile pieces : journalism and the "human interest" bias. New York; London: Routledge, cop. 2016. Str. 226-239. Routledge research in journalism, 13. ISBN 978-1-138-93805-2. [COBISS.SI-ID 4114171]