Authenticity and Adaptation Programme

Wednesday 7 June 

9.30 – 10.30 am: Registration and coffee, Alan Walters Building (please note: all sessions will take place in this building) 

10.30- 11.30am: Keynote: Professor Kristen Warner, Cornell University

‘Plastic, Plastic Everywhere: Locating Cultural Specificity in the Time of Plastic Representation’ (G03) 

11.40 – 12.55 

Panel 1 – Fidelity – G11

Chair: Debayudh Chatterjee 

  • Xuelin Zhou,  University of Auckland, ‘Ideology and the politics of fidelity’ 
  • Yi Li, Zhengzhou University, ‘Authenticity and fidelity, adapting Ba Jin for Hong Kong cinema’ 
  • Larry Gray, Jacksonville State University, ‘Its hour come round at last?: The Passion of the Christ’  

Panel 2 – Contemporary approaches to Shakespeare & Adaptation - 112 

Chair: Anna Blackwell 

  • Ronan Hatfull, University of Warwick, ‘‘Heavy is the head that wears the crown’: Authenticity, Pleasure and Responsibility in Hip-Hop Shakespeare’ 
  • Gemma Allred, University of Neuchatel, ‘The thing is, you’re a douche’: Fourth Wave Feminist Representations of Shakespeare in Emilia and & Juliet’ 
  • Jennifer McDougall, University of Calgary, ‘Evolving Platforms in Shakespeare Engagement: Does Agency Impact Authenticity?’ 
  • Julie Thompson, Burman University, ‘Assemble Ye, Avengers! – A Shakespearean Adaptation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’ 

12.55 -1.40pm: Lunch 

1.40– 2.55pm 

Panel 3 – Television and adaptation (I) – G11 

Chair: Christina Wilkins 

Louise Coopey, University of Birmingham, ‘Reframing the narrative: Television adaptation through alternative perspectives’

  •  Monika Wozniak, University of Rome, ‘Where did The Witcher go? Authenticity versus cultural appropriation in Netflix’s adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy saga’ 
  • Isadora Avis, Universitat Internacional de Cataluna, ‘From TV ad to TV series: Developing Character Identity in Ted Lasso’ 
  • James Taylor, University of Warwick, ‘In pursuit of the authentic Lovecraftian image on screen’

Panel 4 – Literary adaptations - 112 

Chair: Erin Sullivan 

  • Safia Benia, University of Limerick, ‘Adapting Darlington Hall: Reframing the Country House in The Remains of the Day’ 
  • Andrew Watts, University of Birmingham, ‘Keeping it (too?) real: authenticity and (mis)remembering the canon in adaptations of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ 
  • Alice Payne, De Montfort University, ‘Penelope, Circe and the contemporary reader’ 
  • Beatrice Festa, University of Bari, ‘William Faulkner, Cinema and the Challenge to Irrepresentability: Adapting The Sound and the Fury (2014) between Originality and Authenticity’ 

2.55 – 3.10: Coffee break 

3.10 – 4.25pm 

Panel 5 – Television and adaptation (II) – G11 

Chair: Ashley Polasek 

  • Clarissa Miranda, Antonio Meneghetti Faculdade, ‘Brazilian Novels Adapted to TV’ 
  • Armando Fumagalli, Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, ‘Authenticity in transnational adaptation of two Netflix TV series: From Norwegian Hjem til jul (Home for Christmas) to Italian Odio il Natale (I Hate Christmas)’ 
  • Christina Wilkins, University of Birmingham, ‘Truth, Selfhood and Adaptation in Westworld’ 
  • Kyle Meikle, University of Baltimore, ‘The Multi-Season Adaptation’ 

Panel 6 – Adapting identities - 112 

Chair: Megen de Bruin-Molé 

  • Will Stanford Abbiss, Victoria University of Wellington, ‘Identity in Adaptation: Giving Voice to the Marginalised in Watchmen and Great Expectations’ 
  • Matthew Leggatt, University of Winchester, ‘Daughters of the Dust – Rephrasing the African American experience in Julie Dash’s movie and novel of the same name’ 
  • Nicole Ong, Nanyang Technological University, ‘Stories Entangled with the Faith of my Father: Identity, Adaptations, and Holocaust Memoirs’ 

4.35 – 5.50pm 

Panel 7 – Writing and authenticity – G11 

Chair: John Milton 

  • Maria Crupi, University of Rome, ‘Reclaiming a classic: the case of Nise Murasaki inaka Genji’ 
  • Cordula Böcking, Maynooth University, ‘Blasphemous authenticity? Georg Kaiser’s Gilles und Jeanne (1923) and Friedrich Schiller’s Jungfrau von Orleans (1801)’ 
  • Silvia Ghiardelli, University of Sheffield, ‘Reframing Margaret Garner: Adaptation and Rememory in Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987)’ 
  • Kate Oestreich, Coastal Carolina University, ‘Neutering Jane Eyre; Or the Politics of Temporally Inauthentic Fashion’ 

Panel 8 – Biography, originality, and culture - 112

Chair: Julie Thompson 

  • Matt Robinson, University of Derby, ‘‘A Unique Situation in the History of Cinema’: Crowhurst (2018), The Mercy (2018) and Preserving Authenticity in the British biopic’ 
  • Dafydd Sills-Jones and Roger Owen, Auckland University of Technology and University of Aberystwyth, ‘Adapting Cafflogion: authenticity and originality in the digital adaptation of a Welsh novella’ 
  • Barbara Braid, University of Szczecin, ‘Biographemes in post-authentic biofiction: the case of Edgar Allen Poe’ 

6pm: Drinks reception, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts 

Thursday 8 June 

9.10 – 10.25am 

Panel 9 – Theory and authenticity – G11 

Chair: Kamilla Elliott 

  • Kamilla Elliott, Lancaster University, ‘Authentic Adaptation’ 
  • Allen Redmon, Texas A&M University Central Texas, ‘The Authentic cinematic index of adaptation in The Return’
  •  Joakim Hermansson, Dalarna University, ‘For the love of it: authentic appropriations’ 
  • Liam Burke, Swinburne University of Technology, ‘Inauthentic adaptations: Vernacular, Industrial, and Unofficial adaptations in contemporary popular culture’ 

Panel 10 – Shakespeare strikes back - 112 

Chair: Cordula Böcking 

  • Emma Harper, Hannes Rall, Nanyang Technological University, ‘Through Shylock's Eyes: historical authenticity and textual fidelity in an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” for immersive fulldome cinema,” 
  • Daniel Varndell, University of Winchester, ‘Mercutio in Love: Queering Romeo and Juliet’ 
  • Amy Bromilow,  University of Nottingham, ‘‘Not suitable for those with a disposition towards fragile masculinity’: Reclaiming Lady Macbeth for a rape-revenge narrative in Hannah Capin’s Foul is Fair’ 
  • Rebecca Connor, City University of New York, ‘The Opposite of Shakespeare: Popular fiction to film from a practitioner’s perspective’ 

10.35 – 11.50am 

Panel 11 – Animation, comic books, and adaptation  - G11 

Chair: James Taylor

  •  Maria Della Chiara, Universita Cattolic del Sacro Cuore, ‘Grave of the Fireflies: the intimate anime adaptation of an obscure Japanese tragedy during second world war’ 
  • Emma Balint, University of Szeged, ‘Comic books and video games’ 
  • Chris Grosvenor, University of Exeter, ‘Secret Origins: The Disavowal of the comics medium within the promotional rhetoric of film promotion’
  • Maria Chiara Oltolini, Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, ‘World Classics Made in Japan: How Anime Reframed Children’s Literature 

Panel 12 – Place and adaptation - 112 

Chair: Debora Nakanishi 

  • Amber Dunai, Texas A&M University, ‘Place as process in Troilus & Criseyde and A Ghost Story’ 
  • Izabela Rudnicka, University of Manchester, ‘Shipwrecked comedy and boundaries of adaptation’ 
  • Linda Willem, Butler University, ‘Layers of Authenticity: Rosa, Rosae 2021 Film Short by Carlos Saura’ 

11.50 – 12.05: Coffee Break 

12.05 – 1.20pm 

Panel 13 – Gender and authenticity – G11 

Chair: Rebecca Connor 

  • Christine Geraghty, University of Glasgow, ‘Tales of Girlhood and authenticity in The Wonder (2022) and Aftersun (2022)’ 
  • Samar Abdel-Raman, Kings College London, ‘Feminism reworked: I Refuse to Live Under my Father's Will’ 
  • Gareth Smith, Cardiff University, ‘Adapting Anger: class, masculinity and sexuality in Room At the Top and Look Back in Anger’ 
  • Ashley Polasek, Independent Scholar, ‘From Tenor to Soprano: adapting gender on stage’ 

Panel 14 – Media/medium and adaptation - 112

Chair: Eckart Voigts 

  • Gillian McIver, Central St Martins, ‘Journalism into Film: adapting the Baader Meinhof Complex’ 
  • Megen de Bruin-Molé, University of Southampton, ‘Reauthenticating the Canon: Authenticity, Remix, and Revolution in Palgrave Macmillan’s ‘Remixed Classics’ Books (2022-present) 
  • Colleen Kennedy-Karpat, Bilkent University, ‘Medieval Poetry in Motion Pictures’ 

1.20- 2pm: Lunch 

2 – 3.15pm 

Panel 15 – YA and children’s adaptation – G11 

Chair: Ronan Hatfull 

  • Ola Al-Refae, Illinois State University, ‘Understanding Remakes and their Authenticity: Using Disney’s Aladdin as an example’ 
  • Catherine Lester, University of Birmingham, ‘Not-so-bloody bunnies: Adapting Watership Down for children’s television’ 
  • Anna Blackwell, University of Nottingham, ‘Harry Potter and the Non-authorised spin-off: material culture and adaptation’ 

Panel 16 – Theatre and adaptation - 112

Chair: Ben Broadribb 

  • Chris Horn, Independent Scholar, ‘Authenticity and Fidelity in Robert Altman's 1980s theatrical adaptations’ 
  • Greg Nussen, New York University, ‘Chekov and Actors’
  • Debayudh Chatterjee, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, ‘Satyajit Ray’s Ganashatru (1989), or an Indian afterlife of Henrik Ibsen in the wake of Hindutva and Globalization’  

3.15 – 3.30pm Coffee Break 

3.30- 4.45 

Panel 17 – Acting, Bodies, and Space – G11

Chair: Tom Leitch 

  • John Sanders, Reed College, ‘Adapting the racial imaginary in Revisionist Role Playing Games’ 
  • Julie Grossman, LeMoyne College, ‘Liminalities in Smooth Talk’ 
  • James Slattery, University of Manchester, ‘From ‘Realness’ to ‘Authenticity’: Pose and the return to history’ 
  • Jonathan Bignell, University of Reading, ‘Animals, acting and authenticity’

Panel 18 – 19th Century to today: Austen and Bronte - 112 

Chair: Andrew Watts 

  • Anna Gutowska, University of Kielce, ‘Appropriating the Brontes: post authenticity and character-centred narrative in Emily (2022)’ 
  • Srijani Ghosh, University of California, Berkeley, ‘Diversity Sells: Uzma Jalaluddin’s Muslim Adaptation of Pride and Prejudice’ 
  • Armelle Parey, Université de Caen-Normandie, ‘“Picking up the baton” from Jane Austen in Laura Wade's The Watsons (2018) 

Conference Dinner 7pm, Bank Restaurant 

Friday, 9th June 

9 – 10.15

 Panel 19 – The state of contemporary adaptations – G11 

Chair: Catherine Lester 

  • Ahmet Atay, College of Wooster, ‘Colliding Visions of Three Versions of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express: Authenticity and the Role of Contemporary Audience’ 
  • Marta Frago, University of Navarra, ‘Gerwig’s Little Women: adaptation, remake and autobiography through Jo March's character.’ 
  • Eckart Voigts, TU Braunschweig, ‘Authenticity, adaptability, and TV cloning: Medea re-formatted in transcultural adaptation’ 
  • Thomas Leitch, University of Delaware, ‘The last word? The paradox of the definitive adaptation’ 

Panel 20 – Classics, authenticity, and the digital – 112 

Chair: Colleen Kennedy-Karpat 

  • Erin Sullivan, University of Birmingham, ‘Remixing the Classics: Reflections on Digital Adaptation and Ideas of Canon' 
  • Annamaria Fabian, ‘Fragmented Authenticity: Shakespearean Tragedy and (Yesterday’s) News’ 
  • Benjamin Broadribb, University of Birmingham, ‘Speaking with others’ tongues: artifice and authenticity in Creation Theatre’s Zoom adaptation of The Duchess of Malfi’ 

10.15 – 10.30: Coffee Break 

10.30 – 11.45 

Panel 21 – Trans/intercultural adaptations – G11 

Chair: Megen de Bruin-Molé 

  • Shyam Sundar, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, ‘Cultural authenticity in transcultural adaptation: A study of Satyajit Ray’s filmic adaptation (Ganashatru, 1989) of Henrik Ibsen’s play An Enemy of the People (1882)’ 
  • Debora Nakanishi, Independent Scholar, ‘The Intercultural adaptation: an anthropological perspective’ 
  • Anna Boginskaya, University of Wroclaw, ‘Cultural authenticity in transcultural film adaptation’ 

Panel 22 – Controversy, cultural touchpoints, and adaptation - 112

Chair: Safia Benia 

  • Katrijn Bekers, University of Antwerp, ‘The #metoo literary biopic: reframing women writers’ life stories in times of #metoo’ 
  • Ryan Borochovitz, University of Toronto, ‘Some of which actually happened: legacies of the James Frey controversy’ 
  • Erica Moulton, University of Wisconsin, ‘Making Tragic Heroes out of corrupted criminals - Motley's sociological novels’
  •  Hayley Rae, Independent Scholar, ‘Post-Shoah’ 

11.55 – 1.10

Panel 23 – Screening Authenticity – G11

Chair: Andrew Watts

  •  David McGowan, University of the Arts London, ‘“If I Can Change”: Franchise Management, Re-Adaptation, and the Director’s Cut of Rocky IV (1985; 2021)’ 
  • Yosr Dridi, University of Tunis, ‘Beyond Historicity: Authenticity in Cinematic Adaptations of Non-/Anti-Realist Fiction’ 
  • Claire Monk, De Montfort University, ‘The Case of My Policeman’ 

Panel 24 – Conceptualising adaptation - 112

Chair: Christine Geraghty

  • John Milton, Universidade de Sao Paulo, ‘Adaptation as Shadow, the Netflix Adaptation of Maurice Leblanc’s Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Cambrioleur, Lupin, à l’Ombre d’Arsène’ 
  • Matthew Page, Independent Scholar, ‘“Rumours of Things Going Astray": Identifying and Reversing Inherited Inauthenticity in Jesus Movies and Other Biblical Adaptations.’ 

1.10 – 1.50: Lunch 

1.50 – 3: Roundtable: Authenticity and Adaptation – G11

Chair: Deborah Cartmell

Thomas Leitch, James Taylor, Julie Grossman, Megen de Bruin-Molé and Kamilla Elliott 

Closing remarks 

3 – 4.30: AGM – G11 

Conference finish