MLA 2017 Panel:
19th Century Adaptation and Transmediation: Narrative Boundary Crossings
Thursday, 5 January, 12:00 noon–1:15 p.m., 307, Philadelphia Marriott
A special session
Presiding: Garrett Jeter, Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville
1. "Victorian Transmedial Storytelling," Erica Haugtvedt, Ohio State Univ., Columbus
2. "Commodifying Adaptations: Literary-Inspired Merchandise in the Nineteenth Century," Lissette Lopez Szwydky, Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville
3. "Alice in Silhouette: Tracing Wonderland’s Growth in Japan through Adaptation," Amanda Kennell, Univ. of Southern California
4. "Matchmaking in Two Jane Austen Card Games," Jonathan Rey Lee, Univ. of Washington, Seattle
A special session
Presiding: Garrett Jeter, Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville
1. "Victorian Transmedial Storytelling," Erica Haugtvedt, Ohio State Univ., Columbus
2. "Commodifying Adaptations: Literary-Inspired Merchandise in the Nineteenth Century," Lissette Lopez Szwydky, Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville
3. "Alice in Silhouette: Tracing Wonderland’s Growth in Japan through Adaptation," Amanda Kennell, Univ. of Southern California
4. "Matchmaking in Two Jane Austen Card Games," Jonathan Rey Lee, Univ. of Washington, Seattle
Panel Description
Adaptation and transmedia storytelling are central to a widespread, diverse understanding of mass literacy and narrative mobility. The last decade has seen significant attention to the theorization of adaptation, led by Robert Stam’s Literature Through Film (2004), Linda Hutcheon’s A Theory of Adaptation (2006), and Thomas Leitch’s Adaptation and Its Discontents (2007), among others. Although the interdisciplinary subfield of “adaptation studies” largely highlights literature and film, more recent work incorporates multimedia forms of storytelling. In Convergence Culture (2008), Henry Jenkins defines transmedia storytelling as “a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. Ideally, each medium makes its own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story.” Jenkins’ work dominates studies of transmedia storyworlds, which have so far tended to focus on current franchises. Yet, transmedia is not a new phenomenon—as even Jenkins acknowledges. Histories of adaptation and transmedia storytelling are necessary to complement scholarship on these literary modalities.
The nineteenth century provides an opportune place to situate a historically aware and nuanced understanding of adaptation and transmedia storytelling as a vehicle for the circulation of narratives—old and new, then and now. This panel will include four engaging, multimedia presentations that will be strictly limited to 14-minutes each (to allow time for introductions and discussion). The first two papers situate adaptation and transmedia storytelling as a thriving commercial venture in Victorian England. The latter half of the panel looks to nineteenth-century literature’s continued circulation via similar methods in the twenty-first century.
Erica Haugtvedt’s paper “Victorian Transmedial Storytelling” situates the Victorian penny press and cheap theater as sites of historical transmedia adaptation. The first three versions of Sweeney Todd (originally, The String of Pearls) from page and stage versions of 1846-51 not only re-tell but elaborate or change the story in ways that later persist in subsequent versions. James Malcolm Rymer’s text was initially published in eighteen parts. Three weeks before serialization concluded, George Dibdin Pitt adapted the story to the stage. Three years later, Edward Lloyd issued an expanded version of Rymer’s serial—now incorporating Dibdin Pitt’s contributions to the storyworld. Scholars who interpret the penny press as a den of plagiarism obscure its transformative activities. The example of Sweeney Todd from 1846-51 challenges this view, revealing that transmedia reception practices were in place by the 1840s, allowing audiences to continue their involvement with a story without having to necessarily view the multiple formats as competing, but rather complementary.
The world of Victorian transmedia appropriations is widened in Lissette Lopez Szwydky’s “Commodifying Adaptations: Literary-Inspired Merchandise in the Nineteenth Century.” Scholars have documented the commercial “mania” around literary bestsellers such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin and many of Dickens’s novels. Less documented is the relationship between literary commodities and the most successful stage adaptations of the novels. In addition to surveying typical literary-inspired merchandise (postcards, figurines, etc.), this presentation focuses on toy theaters (also known as “paper theaters” or the “juvenile drama”), which were very popular in the nineteenth century, and a source of family entertainment. Paper theaters crossed national boundaries, as publishers in England, France, Germany, Spain, and the United States printed scenes, characters, and modified scripts from the period’s most famous plays. Fairy tales and literary best sellers were common themes for toy theaters; however, the source texts were not the original novels or tales, but instead their most popular stage adaptations. Toy theaters extended the narratives encountered on stage, serving as literary primers for children of all ages. Color prints were also collected by adults. The presentation will feature some of the most popular titles (including adaptations of Scott, Stowe, Dickens, and other nineteenth-century authors) and theorize their place in the historical emergence of mass literacy and commercial adaptations.
Amanda Kennell’s “Alice in Silhouette: Tracing Wonderland’s Growth in Japan through Adaptation” covers postmodern, cross-cultural iterations of the Victorian period’s most famous child character including Shunji Iwai’s Hana and Alice (2004), Yuki Kaori’s serialized manga Alice in Murderland (2014-present), and Idea Factory’s Are You Alice? (2011). As Alice was adapted into diverse visual media over the course of the twentieth century –themed cafés, stickers, clothing and snack food– Alice was often depicted as a silhouette in Japan. Emma Rutherford argues that, “a silhouette is both something and nothing, a negative and a positive.” The missing Alices of Japanese popular culture exemplify her point. Creators actively highlight Alice’s absence, making her shadow a vital part of the adaptations. Working through Marc Steinberg’s ideas of characters as synecdoches, this presentation addresses one of the definitive questions of adaptation studies: what parts of a source work have to be retained in order to call the result an adaptation?
In “Matchmaking in Two Jane Austen Card Games,” Jonathan Rey Lee explores game design and participatory reader response. A central tension of narrative gaming is the extent to which players identify with the characters. In Marrying Mr. Darcy, players employ role-playing mechanics as models of identification. This game is role-playing fan fiction. Engaging what Andrew Miller calls the optative mode, this game constructs counterfactual narratives whose significance is necessarily measured against the canon. In comparison, Jane Austen’s Matchmaker aims at player dis-identification by combining marriageable characters from all five of Austen’s novels in one marriage marketplace. Abstracted from the individual emotions and resolutions that make up a stereotypical romance plot, this game represents the network of social relations within which marriages are embedded. The game is a social simulation that adapts and satirizes the matchmaking culture that Austen depicts, replicating both the cynicism of Austen’s narrator and the paternalism of Austen’s plotting. Marrying Mr. Darcy is a study in readership; Jane Austen’s Matchmaker is a study in authorship. Both games exist in the playful hybrid space between adaptation and fan fiction.
Collectively, the adaptations and transmedia retellings covered by these presentations establish new modes of participatory engagement with literary texts, both in the Victorian period and in the present day.
The nineteenth century provides an opportune place to situate a historically aware and nuanced understanding of adaptation and transmedia storytelling as a vehicle for the circulation of narratives—old and new, then and now. This panel will include four engaging, multimedia presentations that will be strictly limited to 14-minutes each (to allow time for introductions and discussion). The first two papers situate adaptation and transmedia storytelling as a thriving commercial venture in Victorian England. The latter half of the panel looks to nineteenth-century literature’s continued circulation via similar methods in the twenty-first century.
Erica Haugtvedt’s paper “Victorian Transmedial Storytelling” situates the Victorian penny press and cheap theater as sites of historical transmedia adaptation. The first three versions of Sweeney Todd (originally, The String of Pearls) from page and stage versions of 1846-51 not only re-tell but elaborate or change the story in ways that later persist in subsequent versions. James Malcolm Rymer’s text was initially published in eighteen parts. Three weeks before serialization concluded, George Dibdin Pitt adapted the story to the stage. Three years later, Edward Lloyd issued an expanded version of Rymer’s serial—now incorporating Dibdin Pitt’s contributions to the storyworld. Scholars who interpret the penny press as a den of plagiarism obscure its transformative activities. The example of Sweeney Todd from 1846-51 challenges this view, revealing that transmedia reception practices were in place by the 1840s, allowing audiences to continue their involvement with a story without having to necessarily view the multiple formats as competing, but rather complementary.
The world of Victorian transmedia appropriations is widened in Lissette Lopez Szwydky’s “Commodifying Adaptations: Literary-Inspired Merchandise in the Nineteenth Century.” Scholars have documented the commercial “mania” around literary bestsellers such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin and many of Dickens’s novels. Less documented is the relationship between literary commodities and the most successful stage adaptations of the novels. In addition to surveying typical literary-inspired merchandise (postcards, figurines, etc.), this presentation focuses on toy theaters (also known as “paper theaters” or the “juvenile drama”), which were very popular in the nineteenth century, and a source of family entertainment. Paper theaters crossed national boundaries, as publishers in England, France, Germany, Spain, and the United States printed scenes, characters, and modified scripts from the period’s most famous plays. Fairy tales and literary best sellers were common themes for toy theaters; however, the source texts were not the original novels or tales, but instead their most popular stage adaptations. Toy theaters extended the narratives encountered on stage, serving as literary primers for children of all ages. Color prints were also collected by adults. The presentation will feature some of the most popular titles (including adaptations of Scott, Stowe, Dickens, and other nineteenth-century authors) and theorize their place in the historical emergence of mass literacy and commercial adaptations.
Amanda Kennell’s “Alice in Silhouette: Tracing Wonderland’s Growth in Japan through Adaptation” covers postmodern, cross-cultural iterations of the Victorian period’s most famous child character including Shunji Iwai’s Hana and Alice (2004), Yuki Kaori’s serialized manga Alice in Murderland (2014-present), and Idea Factory’s Are You Alice? (2011). As Alice was adapted into diverse visual media over the course of the twentieth century –themed cafés, stickers, clothing and snack food– Alice was often depicted as a silhouette in Japan. Emma Rutherford argues that, “a silhouette is both something and nothing, a negative and a positive.” The missing Alices of Japanese popular culture exemplify her point. Creators actively highlight Alice’s absence, making her shadow a vital part of the adaptations. Working through Marc Steinberg’s ideas of characters as synecdoches, this presentation addresses one of the definitive questions of adaptation studies: what parts of a source work have to be retained in order to call the result an adaptation?
In “Matchmaking in Two Jane Austen Card Games,” Jonathan Rey Lee explores game design and participatory reader response. A central tension of narrative gaming is the extent to which players identify with the characters. In Marrying Mr. Darcy, players employ role-playing mechanics as models of identification. This game is role-playing fan fiction. Engaging what Andrew Miller calls the optative mode, this game constructs counterfactual narratives whose significance is necessarily measured against the canon. In comparison, Jane Austen’s Matchmaker aims at player dis-identification by combining marriageable characters from all five of Austen’s novels in one marriage marketplace. Abstracted from the individual emotions and resolutions that make up a stereotypical romance plot, this game represents the network of social relations within which marriages are embedded. The game is a social simulation that adapts and satirizes the matchmaking culture that Austen depicts, replicating both the cynicism of Austen’s narrator and the paternalism of Austen’s plotting. Marrying Mr. Darcy is a study in readership; Jane Austen’s Matchmaker is a study in authorship. Both games exist in the playful hybrid space between adaptation and fan fiction.
Collectively, the adaptations and transmedia retellings covered by these presentations establish new modes of participatory engagement with literary texts, both in the Victorian period and in the present day.
Panelist Bios
Lissette Lopez Szwydky is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Arkansas. Her research and teaching interests include Romantic and Victorian Literature and Culture, Adaptation Studies, Gender Studies, Popular Culture, and the Transatlantic Gothic Tradition. She is currently writing a book on the historical emergence of a commercial entertainment industry driven by adaptation titled The Nineteenth-Century Culture Industry: Literature, Adaptation, History.
Amanda Kennell is a PhD Candidate in East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Southern California, where she also studies Visual Studies, Digital Media, and Culture. She has received several digital humanities fellowships from the Mellon Foundation, as well as other grants. She was awarded the 2015 William E. Brigman Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Paper by The Journal of Popular Culture, where her essay “Origin and Ownership from Ballet to Anime” is forthcoming.
Jonathan Rey Lee is a Visiting Scholar in Communication at the University of Washington. He received his PhD in Comparative Literature from UC-Riverside in 2013. He has published several essays on literature and narrative gaming. His book project is titled Brickolage: The Medium and Messages of LEGO.
Erica Haugtvedt is a Senior Lecturer in English at The Ohio State University, where she received her PhD in 2015. Her areas of specialization are nineteenth-century British literature and the history of the novel. Her dissertation “But Wait, There’s More: Serial Character and Adaptive Reading Practices in the Victorian Period” covers serialized popular fiction and adaptation. She has published essays in Victorian Periodicals Review and MELUS.
Amanda Kennell is a PhD Candidate in East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Southern California, where she also studies Visual Studies, Digital Media, and Culture. She has received several digital humanities fellowships from the Mellon Foundation, as well as other grants. She was awarded the 2015 William E. Brigman Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Paper by The Journal of Popular Culture, where her essay “Origin and Ownership from Ballet to Anime” is forthcoming.
Jonathan Rey Lee is a Visiting Scholar in Communication at the University of Washington. He received his PhD in Comparative Literature from UC-Riverside in 2013. He has published several essays on literature and narrative gaming. His book project is titled Brickolage: The Medium and Messages of LEGO.
Erica Haugtvedt is a Senior Lecturer in English at The Ohio State University, where she received her PhD in 2015. Her areas of specialization are nineteenth-century British literature and the history of the novel. Her dissertation “But Wait, There’s More: Serial Character and Adaptive Reading Practices in the Victorian Period” covers serialized popular fiction and adaptation. She has published essays in Victorian Periodicals Review and MELUS.