Discovering Covers. The influence of film and stage adaptations on the symbolic and economic capital of Michael Cunningham’s The Hours, Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights trilogy, and William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night

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2017-02-19

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en

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After a book is adapted into a film, it is not unlikely that a new audience will discover the source text, and that the audience that already existed will also be influenced by the adaptation. This thesis studied the influence of film and stage adaptations on the symbolic and economic capital of the source text. Three case studies on the Northern Lights trilogy by Philip Pullman, The Hours by Michael Cunningham and Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare are discussed. Bourdieu’s theory on the field of cultural production is used to define the influence in symbolic and economic capital. This is researched by analyzing the book covers, film posters and the extras that are available in the book, such as the acknowledgements, the introduction and the extras on the DVD. This thesis also examines the professional and amateur reception of the source text and its adaptations. The case studies show that the influence of the film adaptation is more prominent on the source text than the influence of the source text on the adaptation. This suggests that the symbolic capital of the source text and its author become less important in adaptations. Furthermore, the adaptations influence the amateur reception and thus the symbolic capital of the source text. The adaptations positively influence the economic capital of the source text due to new publications and attracting a broader audience. Thus, the symbolic and economic capital of the source text is influenced by the adaptations in these case studies.

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