Magazine created by students of the Department of English and American Studies at Masaryk University.

Monthly archive

March 2017

Playing the Books

in Views

Adapting Literature into Videogames

By Blanka Šustrová

Sony Playstation 3 controller can be also connected to PC
Sony Playstation 3 controller can be also connected to PC

“[Videogames are] any forms of computer-based entertainment software, either textual or image-based, using any electronic platform such as personal computers or consoles and involving one or multiple players in physical or networked environment” (Frasca in Newman 27). Keep Reading

Propaganda on Screen: Adapting Shakespeare’s Henry V

in Views

By Markéta Šonková

King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt
King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt Harry Payne, wikimedia commons, public domain CC0 1.0

It is no news that famous writings and cultural pieces have been, and continue to be used or interpreted differently than might have been their original literary purpose, often as a means to legitimize or explain actions of certain individual(s). This has been the case no matter what ideology or movement was holding the reins. However, not all kinds of content manipulation necessarily serve as a support of totalitarian regimes: they can also serve as a means to boost the morale of a war-tested nation, as is to be seen in Laurence Olivier’s 1944 Henry V movie adaptation or to send a political message in Kenneth Branagh’s 1989 film version. Truth be told, Henry V is an ambiguous text in today’s terms, allowing for various readings, which has been used several times by movie makers to pass on various messages while adapting one of the most famous pieces of British drama. Keep Reading

Artificial Swear Words

in Other

How Can We Swear Without Swearing?

By Pavel Peléšek

 

Many children worldwide have been told to “stop watching that filth!” by their parents after a dirty word has been uttered on screen. Many times a writer has received the draft of their new novel back from the publishers riddled with censorship notes whenever a character decided to speak their mind about a particularly nasty situation. There is, however a certain creative way to overcome this problem and that is to adapt. Keep Reading

Frankenstein is a YouTuber: On the Originality, Interactivity, and Contemporariness of Modern Adaptations of Classics

in Views

By Tereza Walsbergerová

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The Lizzie Bennet Diaries Courtesy of Pemberley Digital

Have you ever wondered where Elizabeth Bennet might work if she lived in the 21st century? What would Anne Shirley think of poetry slams if she was a college student in 2013 Canada? What would Dr. Frankenstein look like as a modern young woman? The internet has you covered. From all-time classics, such as Pride and Prejudice or Little Women, to slightly more obscure works, such as The Secret Garden, or even some tales from Greek mythology, people have decided to give their favourite heroes and heroines a makeover. This article attempts to get down to the nitty-gritty of modern adaptations of classic literary works on YouTube, focusing on their originality, interactivity, and contemporariness. Keep Reading

Adapting Literature into Cakes

in Views

By Martina Krénová

 

Are you a bookworm and a passionate baker? Have you ever wondered if the food in literary works carries a deeper meaning? If so, there is no one to stop you from exploring the world of adapting literature into meals, biscuits, cakes… You might discover hidden treasures you would not necessarily find otherwise, and in addition you will enjoy the fruits of your labor. If you need inspiration, creators of the Literary Kitchen blog, Nicoletta Asciutto and Amy Smith, provide you with great recipes and insightful analyses of literary works of different genres and periods from the fourteenth century onwards.

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Welsh Cakes from Under Milk Wood. Photo courtesy of Nicoletta Asciuto.

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Adapting Big Sisters: The Intermediality of YouTubers Autobiographical Advice

in Views

By Silke Jandl

 

Introduction

YouTube vlogger is the new dream job among teenagers (see for example here and here); in fact, over the past decade YouTubers have rapidly become prominent role models and their highly subjective advice is avidly sought after. The fan communities that have evolved around YouTube vloggers have proven not only to be eager consumers of audio-visual material but also dedicated readers of print books. Starting in late 2014 numerous books published by YouTubers have flooded the bestseller lists across the globe. The CEO of Simon & Schuster, Carolyn Reidy, has commented on this trend in Publisher’s Weekly: “YouTube authors draw [sic] new reader who, having seen the personalities on the web, want to own a small piece of them. Online videos are, by their nature, intangible; a printed book, on the other hand, is anything but.”  Accordingly, I will explore the role of materiality and mediality in the interrelationship between YouTube videos and books. I will argue that the books YouTubers publish can be analyzed as adaptations, as well as transmedial expansions. I will be using Werner Wolf’s theory of intermediality in order to shed some light on certain specific adaptation processes. I will furthermore outline the relationship between YouTubers and their viewers, which will aid in the understanding the wide-spread trend of self-help books and videos. I will lastly provide a brief intermedial analysis focusing primarily on the audiobook versions of two such books. Keep Reading

It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing

in Other

 

By Martina Krénová

 

Picture 5
At the Savoy Cup 2016. Eric Esquivel, flickr.com, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

On hearing the phrase “swing dance”, many imagine old Hollywood movies with dancers dressed in sailor’s uniforms, which is not untrue of swing dance and music, but it is only a part of the swing era which in some form has survived to today. When looking into the history of swing dance and music, one realizes that it is so much more than a craze – it is a phenomenon that has overcome racial prejudice and inequality and connected millions of people.

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He Will Most Certainly Not Be Fine: Please Like Me as a Millennial’s Adaptation of Contemporary Australia

in Reviews

By Tereza Walsbergerová

 

Chuck Palahniuk is not by far the only one who realises that being in one’s twenties can be extremely tough. In fact, there is one comedian in Australia who based his entire livelihood on this notion and even created a TV show around it. Josh Thomas’ Please Like Me is about a young Melburnian named Josh who has to take care of his bipolar mother while struggling with being perpetually single, awkward, and generally lethargic. Having developed from Thomas’ stand-up routine of the same name, the show contains the lightness of the stand-up genre combined with raw honesty of a social drama – a fusion that sets the show up for instant success which has not quite yet reached mainstream audiences outside Australia. This article’s goal is to not only introduce and review Please Like Me for the Re:Views reader, but to also possibly get the reader to (please) like Please Like Me.

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