Definitions Of Adaptation In Literature

Chapter 1: On Adaptation
1.2 What is Adaptation?
At the first glance, to study the adaptation process and generalize it as a process of creating a work based on another work, we need to define adaptation precisely; that is, we need primarily to identify the subject matter.
In this step, we would like to know what adaptation is. The word “adaptation” is not confined only to drama and art, and goes beyond that. In the dictionaries “adaptation” is defined as a process in which something from a source is taken to be used for another application. In this definition, there is no reference to the structure of the source and adaptation material’s primary area. In these dictionaries we see synonyms such as Quotation, Obtaining, Derivation and Acquiring

But, it is possible to pick up some certain aspects of these definitions among others: 1) taking and appropriating, 2) changing from a shape to another, and 3) fitting in new environment.
All of these three aspects can be held in adaptation process of fictional literature into the drama. In fact, it can be possible to suggest a new definition for adaptation using these aspects and whatever definitions presented so far. This new definition is the core one considered throughout this study for the concept of adaptation. Hereafter, wherever we mention the word adaptation, it means: “the process of adapting a fiction, roman or any other literary types to a drama so that literary elements of the main source are fitted into the drama structure and adapted to the features of drama.” In fact, in dramatic adaptation we are faced with a dialectic

But, in theatre and cinema, you are dealing with different vocabulary; various scenes and plans, as different kinds of words, are put together. However, these fragments, whether 5 pieces or 5000, are juxtaposed as independent words.”
For example, in Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” it is the words that make the events. We read these words, and imagine places, events and even characters’ faces in our mind. However, in a play produced in 2008 which won playwriting and direction awards in Russian classics festival, the writer and director (Chista Yasrebi) excerpts events and happenings for audiences, and they see what director had juxtaposed in a jigsaw manner. Here, the means of expression and the way of audience’s treat are different; the imagination and perception of the audience are influenced by images that director has selected.
In general, we have been talking about “time” so far. It is so while it is possible to expand the issue to include various types of adaptation of novels, short stories, folklores, and myths. Of course, adaptation of any types has its own obstacles. Among them, it is worthwhile to mention four problems which, according to Kenneth Portnoy, more or less are at work in