Transmediated Adaptations

I provide a relevance theoretic approach to transmediated adaptation, focusing on J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, on Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher series, and on the difficulties facing adaptors of ‘literary’ works. Along the way I discuss the relation between resemblance and fidelity, the gains and losses attendant on any change of medium, and the role of the author and of the intended (or at least anticipated) audience. I also consider the pressures brought to bear by production companies, the contributions of the director or producer, the impact of school curricula on the cultural capital of canonical literary works, and the increasing influence of the audience in the age of social media.