Module Information
Module Identifier
AH23120
Module Title
Adaptation: Versions, Revisions and Cultural Renewal
Academic Year
2022/2023
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 1
Exclusive (Any Acad Year)
Other Staff
Course Delivery
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Works consulted Bibliography of 15 secondary sources related to/relevant for the critical essay (50% of which annotated) approx. 1,250 words | 25% |
| Semester Assessment | Research Essay, 2000 words Critical case study in adaptation of a cultural product existing in at least 3 different media | 50% |
| Semester Assessment | Presentation 10-minute talk, performance or artistic response to an artwork featured in one of the lectures | 25% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Resit research essay, 2000 words Critical case study in adaptation of a cultural product existing in at least three different media | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Works Consulted Bibliography of 15 secondary sources related to/relevant for the critical essay (50% of which annotated) approx. 1,250 words | 25% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Personal Response Written response to an artwork featured in one of the lectures | 25% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. apply interdisciplinary approaches to the interpretation of works of art and visual culture
2. debate the importance of the canon in literature and the visual arts
3. understand the canonical uses and art historical biases of constructs such as ‘genius’ and ‘originality’
4. engage with concepts such as appropriation, reflexivity and transience to assess the strategies and motivations underlying postmodern art and contemporary culture
5. research, document and evaluate primary and secondary sources in relation to the subject
Brief description
Many products of culture endure by shifting shape: stories are turned into sculptures, plays are reimagined as dramatic canvases and mass-produced ephemera are recycled for art. What survives such transformations? What is lost or gained in translation? What are the connections between – and interdependencies of – so-called originals and the works that keep coming after them?
In a series of lectures and follow-up seminars, this interdisciplinary module investigates the processes involved in translative practices that range from the reworking of a literary classic into a graphic novel to drawing a moustache on a copy of the Mona Lisa. It explores relationships between form and content, genre and mode, integrity and hybridity, durability and transience, culture and commerce, as well as art and environmentalism.
The module approaches adaptation – or version making – as a regenerative take on past performances. It looks at adaptation within cultural, socio-political and ecological contexts, both as an adjustment to changing times and as a means of bringing about change through artistic vision and artful revision. It raises questions as to the underlying motivations of remaking and unmaking culture and invites reflections on responses such as nostalgia, camp and the uncanny. It asks why the move forward is indebted to looking back – in admiration, agony and anger.
In a series of lectures and follow-up seminars, this interdisciplinary module investigates the processes involved in translative practices that range from the reworking of a literary classic into a graphic novel to drawing a moustache on a copy of the Mona Lisa. It explores relationships between form and content, genre and mode, integrity and hybridity, durability and transience, culture and commerce, as well as art and environmentalism.
The module approaches adaptation – or version making – as a regenerative take on past performances. It looks at adaptation within cultural, socio-political and ecological contexts, both as an adjustment to changing times and as a means of bringing about change through artistic vision and artful revision. It raises questions as to the underlying motivations of remaking and unmaking culture and invites reflections on responses such as nostalgia, camp and the uncanny. It asks why the move forward is indebted to looking back – in admiration, agony and anger.
Content
Objectives: Fostering interdisciplinary approaches to art and culture; encouraging critical thinking and thoughtful creativity through the interrogation of traditional concepts of art and originality.
1. Creativity: Genius, Inspiration and Influence (Lecture 1)
2. Rethinking ‘Originality’ (follow-up seminar to Lecture 1)
3. Canonicity: Touchstones, Traditions and Individual Talent (Lecture 2)
4. Revisiting the ‘Masters’ (follow-up seminar to Lecture 2)
5. Adaptability: Narrative, Performance and Audio-Visualisation (Lecture 3)
6. Examining Relationships of Form and Content (follow-up seminar to Lecture 3)
7. Appropriation: Relevance, Reflexivity and Post-modernity (Lecture 4)
8. Defining Dada, Kitsch and Camp (follow-up seminar to Lecture 4)
9. Recycling: Trash, Transience and Ecology (Lecture 5)
10. Exploring Creative Approaches to Sustainability and Regeneration (follow-up seminar to Lecture 5)
1. Creativity: Genius, Inspiration and Influence (Lecture 1)
2. Rethinking ‘Originality’ (follow-up seminar to Lecture 1)
3. Canonicity: Touchstones, Traditions and Individual Talent (Lecture 2)
4. Revisiting the ‘Masters’ (follow-up seminar to Lecture 2)
5. Adaptability: Narrative, Performance and Audio-Visualisation (Lecture 3)
6. Examining Relationships of Form and Content (follow-up seminar to Lecture 3)
7. Appropriation: Relevance, Reflexivity and Post-modernity (Lecture 4)
8. Defining Dada, Kitsch and Camp (follow-up seminar to Lecture 4)
9. Recycling: Trash, Transience and Ecology (Lecture 5)
10. Exploring Creative Approaches to Sustainability and Regeneration (follow-up seminar to Lecture 5)
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | |
| Communication | Articulating ideas through seminar discussions and presentations, as well as academic writing skills in the essay. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Independent study through seminar assignment research and preparation. |
| Information Technology | Information retrieval from various academic research portals and online museum collection databases. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Emphasis on professional presentation of research and annotated bibliography using MLA style documentation. |
| Problem solving | In seminar preparation and discussion, essay research and writing. |
| Research skills | In seminar preparation, bibliography and essay research and writing. |
| Subject Specific Skills | N/A (module is designed to be interdisciplinary) |
| Team work |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 5