School of Humanities  
 
 
ENG-30070 Shakespeare on Film: Adaptation and Appropriation  
Co-ordinator: Dr Becky Yearling    Room: CBB2.061, Tel:34282  
Teaching Team: Mrs Tracey  Lea, Mrs Amanda  Porritt, Miss Jo-Anne  Watts  
Lecture Time: See Timetable...  
Level: 3 Credits: 15 Study Hours: 150  
School Office: Tel: 01782 733147
 
 
 
Programme/Approved Electives for
English and American Literatures Single Honours (Level 3)
English Dual Honours (Level 3)
English Major (Level 3)
English Minor (Level 3)
Film Studies Dual Honours (Level 3)
Film Studies Minor (Level 3)
Available as a Free Standing Elective
Yes
Barred Combinations
None

Prerequisites
None

Description

This module will introduce students to Shakespearean adaptation and appropriation via a detailed consideration of the phenomenon of Shakespeare on film. What is involved in the cinema&©s on-off love affair with Shakespeare and the Shakespearean? What kinds of audience are targeted by the makers of Shakespearean films? What happens when a theatrical text is transferred to the screen, or when the literary is transformed into the cinematic? What is the relationship between film adaptation and other forms of Shakespearean appropriation?

Film Shakespeare can be traditionalist or avant-garde, commercial or marginal. At one end of the spectrum, theatre productions are faithfully transferred to film; at the other, scraps of text or narrative survive in new contexts. We will examine Hollywood and art-house productions, silent and non-Anglophone films, films aimed at adults and children, films that utilise a variety of genres (film noir, horror, teen movies), and adaptations intended for film and television. We may also consider films that use Shakespeare or the Shakespearean without necessarily adapting any specific play, such as Shakespeare in Love or Theatre of Blood.

This module is designed for students who have successfully completed literature and/or film modules at Level 2.
Aims
To introduce students to concepts relating to adaptation, appropriation and intertextuality via an in-depth examination of Shakespeare on film. To relate the plays and films to their various social and cultural contexts, and to examine them in relation to a variety of critical and theoretical texts.
Intended Learning Outcomes
assess critically the works Shakespeare and the processes through which the author and his plays have been adapted and appropriated in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries; will be achieved by assessments: 1, 2
assimilate, synthesize and assess major critical approaches to literature and film, in particular discussions of authorship, genre, commerce, culture, gender, sexuality, class, race and nation; will be achieved by assessments: 1, 2
present effective close analysis of film and literature; will be achieved by assessments: 1, 2
demonstrate the research skills appropriate to advanced undergraduate study in the Humanities, and their ability to sustain an argument in written work; will be achieved by assessments: 1, 2
plan, research, and produce work within the limitations of time and resources available. will be achieved by assessments: 1, 2
Study hours
20 hours seminars
40 hours seminar preparation
70 hours assessment preparation
20 hours film viewing
Description of Module Assessment
01: Essay weighted 70%
A 3000- to 3500-word research essay
Students choose one question from a list of 8-10. The essay will require students to reflect on aspects of film adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, and to carry out significant levels of research into primary and secondary materials. The essay will be submitted after the Christmas or Easter vacation in order to ensure that there is sufficient time for research. It will be of min 3000 words and max 3500 words.
02: Short Paper weighted 30%
A 1000- to 1200-word comparative analysis
Students will be asked to pick a short sequence (max 5 minutes) from a film studied on the module, and to write a close analysis of the film and the Shakespearean material it adapts. They will be expected to use appropriate terminology from film and literary studies. The analysis will be submitted in Week 6 and returned with detailed feedback in Week 8. It will be of min 1250 words and max 1500 words.
Version: (1.06B) Updated: 03/Oct/2013

This document is the definitive current source of information about this module and supersedes any other information.