1 Decembrie 1918  University of Alba Iulia	Centre for the research of the imaginary SPECULUM 1 Decembrie 1918  University of Alba Iulia

 

 

 

Invites you to participate in the conference

 

LITERARY ADAPTATIONS AND THE IMAGINARY

 

Venue: Online or at 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, Romania

 

Date:  June 19^th –21^st, 2025

 

 

Keynote speakers:

 

Dr. Jean-Jacques Wunenburger, Professeur émérite de l"Université Lyon 3, Président CRI2i,  Mytho-phories : quelques modèles de transfert des mythes à travers l’histoire

Dr. Ionel Buşe, Universitatea din Craiova, România, Directorul Centrului de Studii asupra Imaginarului şi Raţionalitaţii „Mircea Eliade”, L’imaginaire mythique et les métamorphoses d’un texte littéraire eliadien

 

 

Since ancient times, artists have transformed, reinterpreted, and reimagined folk tales and myths in a variety of forms, genres, and media. From the seemingly straightforward adaptation of a text into a film, a play, or a new literary work to the more subtle appropriation of style or meaning, one could argue that all texts are, in some way, part of a broader ensemble of already established texts and artistic forms. In the contemporary era, the cinematic adaptation of literary works stands as the most popular and widely recognized expression of this process.

Studies on cinematic adaptation have experienced significant development in the early 21st century, building on the contributions of scholars such as Brian McFarlane (1996), Deborah Cartmell and Imelda Whelehan (1999), James Naremore (2000), Robert Stam (2000), Sarah Cardwell (2002), and Kamilla Elliott (2003). These researchers have introduced new perspectives in the analysis of film adaptations, moving beyond traditional discussions centred on fidelity to the original text.

The filmmaker"s central motivation for adapting a literary text stems from the profound impact it has on them as a reader. Thus, the filmmaker is driven to unlock the latent meanings of the work, respond to its calls, and fill the intentional gaps of ambiguity left open by the original text. In this process, the pleasure of cinematic adaptation arises from the ability to visually transpose the mental representations evoked through reading.

The filmmaker’s creative freedom manifests in the unique way they refract the literary work, shaping an imaginative construct that emerges from the interplay of their own sensory, cognitive, and cultural experiences. Consequently, the notion of absolute fidelity becomes an unattainable ideal, as adaptation does not merely seek to mirror the literary text but rather to offer a personal interpretation shaped by the filmmaker’s artistic sensibility and tradition. However, this act of creation carries a dual responsibility: to engage with the intentions of the literary text and respond to its cues, while also producing a comparable effect on the audience. The filmmaker must guide the viewer’s reception, anticipating their emotional and cognitive responses in the process of meaning-making.

Julie Sanders has made a significant contribution to the field of literary adaptation studies through her monograph Adaptation and Appropriation (2005), in which she redefined the traditional fidelity-based approach. Her emphasis on intertextuality and the palimpsestic nature of adaptations has provided a fresh perspective on the creative process, highlighting the dynamic transformation of a source text into a different artistic medium or register.

Today, both literature and film are analysed through the lens of related disciplines such as psychoanalysis, anthropology, history, linguistics, and semiotics. Within this interdisciplinary context, the adaptation of literary texts can be examined through four fundamental approaches: romanticism, reflectionism, materialism, and language (Pasopati et al., 2024, pp. 393–395).

Firstly, romanticism is based on the idea that no artistic form is fixed or immutable but is instead in a state of continuous transformation. In art, romanticism manifests through the exploration and expression of existential essence, which explains why certain artistic forms are consistently adapted and reinterpreted, regardless of their aesthetic classification as good or bad (Osborne & Charles, 2015).

Secondly, reflectionism involves a process of thought that encompasses both critique and self-critique, using literary adaptation in film as a means of conveying social messages. No form of art exists solely for itself but rather for society. This tradition includes both normative and critical thinking. Under normal circumstances, artistic adaptation aims to communicate moral messages about everyday life. For instance, cinematic and theatrical adaptations of works such as Cinderella or Hamlet seek to convey ideas about love, madness, despair, or oppression. In more critical contexts, artistic messages become provocative, awakening public awareness or even inciting resistance against certain social events (Wartenberg, 2015). These adaptations not only convey social messages but also deconstruct established semantic structures, compelling audiences to listen, understand, and reassess their perceptions of both the past and the present.

Materialism, as a school of thought, is founded on the principles of empiricism, emphasising the importance of matter and perceptible reality. Empiricism, often associated with realism, underscores the correspondence between concept and reality, becoming apparent in the contrast between transformation and imagination, on the one hand, and adaptation and originality, on the other. Within this framework, adaptation involves the translation of conceptual ideas into perceptible forms—a process that today ranges from printed texts to digital formats and from traditional film reels to digital cinematic projects (Wartenberg, 2015). As empiricism has evolved into pragmatism, artistic performance has taken centre stage, with artists creating works that reach audiences through new technologies and communication platforms. For example, Shakespeare has been adapted into numerous operatic performances, musicians and bands have incorporated literary works into film soundtracks, and paintings have been influenced by the textual conditions of their respective eras. In this pragmatic era, artistic adaptation is not merely a performative act but also a form of conceptual and perceptual expansion for writers, directors, and spectators alike (Snyder, 2011, p. 206).

Today, materialism is associated more with quantitative rather than qualitative aspects. Films based on bestselling novels, sci-fi productions designed to materialise collective imagination, and the transformation of artists into celebrities exemplify this trend. Financial profit and box office success have become the primary criteria for evaluating artistic material, often at the expense of aesthetic values. This phenomenon reflects an increasing homogenisation of art, shaped by the dynamics of market demand and supply (Snyder, 2011, p. 201).

Finally, another fundamental dimension of artistic adaptation is linked to linguistic tradition, understood as a means of communication and cultural expression. Language is an essential component of any form of art, possessing the ability to transform concepts into images and other artistic expressions (Rahmoun, 2020). In the adaptation process, language plays a crucial role in transposing a literary text into a cinematic work. However, adaptations sometimes sacrifice fidelity to the original text in favour of a stronger emotional impact, employing exaggerated dramatization to captivate the audience’s attention (Oza, 2024).

Thus, the adaptation of literary texts is not merely the straightforward transfer of a work from one medium to another, but rather a complex process of reinterpretation, shaped by aesthetic, economic, and cultural factors. Whether in mainstream cinema or independent productions, each adaptation leaves its mark on how audiences perceive and understand art.

 

Your papers may fall under the following sections:

 

Definitions and Practices in Literary Text Adaptation

Global and Local Dimensions of Literary Text Adaptation

Cultural Policies and Aesthetic Expressions in Literary Text Adaptation

The Impact of New Technologies on Concepts of Creation and Originality

The Influence of Theoretical Currents on Adaptation Processes

The Adaptation of Canonical Texts and Literary Archetypes Over Time

From Other Arts to Literature

 

 

References:

 

Botting, F. Limits of horror: technology, bodies, gothic. (Manchester University Press, 2011).Butler, D. Fantasy cinema: impossible worlds on screen. vol. Short cuts (Wallflower Press, 2009).

 

Cardwell, S. (2002). Adaptation revisited: Television and the classic novel. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

 

Cartmell, D., & Whelehan, I. (Eds.). (1999). Adaptations: From text to screen, screen to text. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315006192

 

Elliott, K. (2003). Rethinking the novel/film debate. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

European nightmares: horror cinema in Europe since 1945. (Wallflower Press, 2012).

 

Fowkes, K. A. The fantasy film. vol. New approaches to film genre (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010).

 

Ghilaş, A. (2016). Interferenţa artelor în abordarea discursului artistic: Aspecte teoretico-metodologice. În O. Moşin, I. Scheau, & D. Opriş (Eds.), Educaţia din perspectiva valorilor: Summa Theologiae (Vol. IX, pp. 136–139). Bucureşti: Editura Eikon.

 

Grant, B. K. Film genre reader III. (University of Texas Press, 2003).King, G. The spectacle of the real: from Hollywood to ‘reality’ TV and beyond. (Intellect, 2005).

 

Ilieşiu, S. (2007). Narativitatea imaginii de film. Bucureşti: Editura UNATC Press.

 

Ionaş, A. (2020). Adaptarea cinematografică a operelor literare. Bucureşti: Editura Eikon.

 

McFarlane, B. (1997). Novel to film: An introduction to the theory of adaptation. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

 

Naremore, J. (2000). Film adaptation. Depth of Field: Bloomington.

 

Olărescu, D. (2017). Hermeneutica filmului despre artă. Chişinău: Editura Epigraf.

 

Osborne, P., & Charles, M. (2020). Walter Benjamin. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2020 ed.). Stanford University. Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/benjamin/

 

Oza, P. (2024). Adaptation theories in literature – Shakespeare into film and cinema. Gradiva, 10(3), 11-23.

 

Pasopati, R. U., Suyaji, F. I. M., Kirana, K. S., & Wijaya, K. (2024). Intricateness of adaptation of literature to film in today’s crisscrossed world. Journal Corner of Education, Linguistics, and Literature, 3(4), 390-400. https://doi.org/10.54012/jcell.v3i4.282

 

Rahmoun, O. (2020). Film adaptation between the pride of literature and the prejudice of inferiority. Arab World English Journal for Translation & Literary Studies, 4(1), 222–236. https://doi.org/10.24093/awejtls/vol4no1.18

 

Sanders, J. (2016). Adaptation and Appropriation (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

 

Snyder, M. H. (2011). Analyzing Literature- to-Film Adaptations: A Novelist’s Exploration and Guide. Continuum.

 

Stam, R. (2000). Film theory: An introduction. New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell.

 

Wartenberg, T. (2015). Philosophy of film. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2015 Edition).

 

GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS

 

Scholars interested in presenting papers (not exceeding 25 minutes in duration) are invited to submit the registration form via email no later than April 1st, 2025. Confirmation of participation will be communicated via email by April 15th, 2025.

Prior to publication, all submissions, written in English, French, Spanish, or Romanian, will undergo an evaluation process conducted by the editorial committee. The selection will be rigorous, as each paper will be subject to a double-blind peer review and an anti-plagiarism detection. Following this process, the accepted papers will be published in Incursiuni în imaginar, the official journal of the Speculum Center, based in Alba Iulia, Romania (indexed in ERIH+, EBSCO, MLA, CEEOL, DOAJ, and Index Copernicus).

 

Abstracts should be submitted via email to Maria Mureşan at: elimuresan@gmail.com

 

Participation Fee – A fee of 100 lei must be transferred to the following account:

RO45RNCB0003145211750001

 

Please specify: "Participation fee Speculum Conference" when making the payment.

 

 

Organizing committee:

Gabriela CHICIUDEAN, Andra URSA, Maria MUREŞAN, Lucian Vasile BÂGIU, Cristina Matilda VĂNOAGĂ, Cosmina CĂDAN (1 Decembrie 1918 University, Romania)

 

Scientific Committee:

Dr. Madeea AXINCIUC (Universitatea din Bucureşti, România)

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=55071039200

Dr. Corin BRAGA (Universitatea Babeş-Bolyai, Cluj-Napoca, România)

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=26036104500

Dr. Ionel BUŞE (Universitatea din Craiova, România)

https://www.scopus.com/freelookup/form/author.uri?st1=Buse&st2=Ionel

Dr. Doina BUTIURCĂ, (Universitatea de Medicină, Farmacie, Ştiinţe şi Tehnologie George Emil Palade, Târgu-Mureş, România)

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57200629727

Dr. Ruxandra CESEREANU (Universitatea Babeş-Bolyai, Cluj-Napoca, România)

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=24069779400

Dr. Luminiţa CHIOREAN (Universitatea de Medicină, Farmacie, Ştiinţe şi Tehnologie George Emil Palade, Târgu-Mureş, România)

Dr. Alba DIZ VILLANUEVA (Universitatea Complutense, Madrid, Spania)

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57211626179

Dr. Barbara FRATICELLI (Universitatea Complutense, Madrid, Spania)

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=26631533600

Dr. Rodica GRIGORE (Universitatea Lucian Blaga din Sibiu, România)

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=36165027500

Dr. Jarmila HORAKOVA (Universitatea Carolină din Praga, Cehia)

https://www.scopus.com/results/authorNamesList.uri?sort=count-f&src=al&sid=0ca650ee4405915419e81be842eb6c84&sot=al&sdt=al&sl=45&s=AUTHLASTNAME%28Horakova%29+AND+AUTHFIRST%28Jarmila%29&st1=Horakova&st2=Jarmila&orcidId=&selectionPageSearch=anl&reselectAuthor=false&activeFlag=true&showDocument=false&resultsPerPage=20&offset=1&jtp=false¤tPage=1&previousSelectionCount=0&tooManySelections=false&previousResultCount=0&authSubject=LFSC&authSubject=HLSC&authSubject=PHSC&authSubject=SOSC&exactAuthorSearch=false&showFullList=false&authorPreferredName=&origin=searchauthorfreelookup&affiliationId=&txGid=163b6256c691a1ab170720d90f97cdc2

Dr. Crina HERŢEG (Universitatea 1 Decembrie 1918 din Alba Iulia, România)

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57313230500

Dr. Cătălina ILIESCU-GHEORGHIU (Universitatea din Alicante, Spania)
https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=55236964300

Dr. Liviu LUTAS (Universitatea Linnaeus, Suedia)

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=38261557400

 Prof. Sibusiso H. MADONDO (Universitatea din Africa de Sud)

Dr. Marius MIHEŢ (Universitatea Comenius din Bratislava, Slovacia)

https://www.scopus.com/results/authorNamesList.uri?sort=count-f&src=al&sid=bbcdb799baee28449b94ea84a5008051&sot=al&sdt=al&sl=41&s=AUTHLASTNAME%28mihe%c8%9b%29+AND+AUTHFIRST%28marius%29&st1=mihe%c8%9b&st2=marius&orcidId=&selectionPageSearch=anl&reselectAuthor=false&activeFlag=true&showDocument=false&resultsPerPage=20&offset=1&jtp=false¤tPage=1&previousSelectionCount=0&tooManySelections=false&previousResultCount=0&authSubject=LFSC&authSubject=HLSC&authSubject=PHSC&authSubject=SOSC&exactAuthorSearch=false&showFullList=false&authorPreferredName=&origin=searchauthorfreelookup&affiliationId=&txGid=02ef5eb88fb86923bf6d85d8f2264112

Prof. Cristina NICOLAESCU (Universitatea Yozgat-Bozok, Turcia)

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57502195200

Dr. Maria NOEL LAPOUJADE (Universitatea Nacional Autonoma din Mexico)

https://www.scopus.com/results/authorNamesList.uri?sort=count-f&src=al&sid=8cf61705b3cf641a032461d85ebf5114&sot=al&sdt=al&sl=49&s=AUTHLASTNAME%28NOEL+LAPOUJADE%29+AND+AUTHFIRST%28Maria%29&st1=NOEL+LAPOUJADE&st2=Maria&orcidId=&selectionPageSearch=anl&reselectAuthor=false&activeFlag=true&showDocument=false&resultsPerPage=20&offset=1&jtp=false¤tPage=1&previousSelectionCount=0&tooManySelections=false&previousResultCount=0&authSubject=LFSC&authSubject=HLSC&authSubject=PHSC&authSubject=SOSC&exactAuthorSearch=false&showFullList=false&authorPreferredName=&origin=searchauthorfreelookup&affiliationId=&txGid=298b4804799abfa956abd6fea39c51ae

Dr. Virginia POPOVIC (Universitatea din Novisad, Serbia)

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=56175313000

Dr. Oana Andreia SÂMBRIAN (Institutul de Cercetări Socio-Umane, Craiova, România)

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=55583105800

Dr. Annemarie SORESCU-MARINKOVIĆ (Institutul pentru Studii Balcanice, Academia de Stiinţe şi  Arte, Belgrad, Serbia)

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=43462287500

Dr. Valerica SPORIŞ (Universitatea Lucian Blaga din Sibiu, România)

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57212844317

Dr. Chris TĂNĂSESCU (Global Literary Studies Research Lab, Spania)

https://www.scopus.com/results/authorNamesList.uri?sort=count-f&src=al&sid=1aa6a5cd1691dcc17073761df61fc531&sot=al&sdt=al&sl=44&s=AUTHLASTNAME%28tanasescu%29+AND+AUTHFIRST%28chris%29&st1=tanasescu&st2=chris&orcidId=&selectionPageSearch=anl&reselectAuthor=false&activeFlag=true&showDocument=false&resultsPerPage=20&offset=1&jtp=false¤tPage=1&previousSelectionCount=0&tooManySelections=false&previousResultCount=0&authSubject=LFSC&authSubject=HLSC&authSubject=PHSC&authSubject=SOSC&exactAuthorSearch=false&showFullList=false&authorPreferredName=&origin=searchauthorfreelookup&affiliationId=&txGid=45c9d4e4a0c0b9bcf869feb625d2ccb1

Dr. Coralia TELEA (Universitatea 1 Decembrie 1918 din Alba Iulia, România)

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=36164884400

Dr. Dragoş VARGA (Universitatea Lucian Blaga din Sibiu, România)

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=34769412700

Dr. Philippe WALTER (Universitatea Stendhal, Grenoble III, Franţa)

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=36879721700

Dr.  Jean-Jacques WUNENBURGER (Jean Moulin University, Lyon 3, CRI2i, France)

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9047-7835