Paper vs. celluloid - Dealing with passing and race in "The Human Stain"Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Mannheim, course: Narratives of passing in American Literature, language: English, abstract: This term paper will deal with one of these novels that fit both of the aforementioned criteria – it is hard to translate into a screen play and the filmic version did not receive much attention at the box-office with a tanking of only 5,000,000 US$ in the United States (The Human Stain [Box Office]). The subject under discussion is the contemporary novel THE HUMAN STAIN written by Philip Roth and first published in 2000. The novel tells the story of a former college professor, Coleman Silk, who resigns from his position after being misleadingly accused of racism. After the death of his wife he is willed to write a book about his life. At this point, the reader does not know that Coleman Silk is black himself but has been passing for white for over four decades, which tragically turns the whole situation of racial harassment into irony. In the year 2003, thus only three years after the novel had been published, the filmic version was released - an incredibly short period of time for the development, shooting and postproduction of a movie. Was it maybe too short? This term paper primarily focusses upon the passing strand of THE HUMAN STAIN, and, therefore, its adaptation to the big screen. Is it even possible to deliver an appropriate intermedia translation of such a highly complex plot as it is to be found in Philip Roth's novel from 2000? How did the author use race to express the actions and especially the misery of the main character Coleman Silk? In what way did Robert Benton depict Anthony Hopkin's character of the passing figure in the cinematic version? And most importantly, does the translation from book to script, and then finally, to film succeed in the end? |
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Paper Vs. Celluloid - Dealing with Passing and Race in "The Human Stain" Kevin Maier Limited preview - 2008 |
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2.1 Structure 2.2 Narration 2.3 Plausibility Anthony Hopkins Book to Screen BoxOfficeMojo.com camera character Coleman Silk Cinematic adaptations Coleman's decision Coleman's family Dealing with Passing decision to pass Delphine Roux Delphine's character depicted Ebert Fantasy Literature Blockbuster Faunia Farley feature film film and novel filmic version first-person narrator graphic novel highly visual media HUMAN STAIN Benton important character Issues with Book J.R.R Tolkien's Jewish know that Coleman Line Cinema literary adaptation Little Children Lynch Maslan motion pictures movie narration and focalization narratives in film Nathan Zuckerman Negro nigger occasional fantasy literature pass for white Peter Jackson Philip Roth's Plausibility and Creditability play race reader reason for Coleman's RING Robert Benton Roots of Coleman Roth Roth's book Roth's novel scene screen writer Silk's Silky Silk simply STAIN Benton 2003 Steena Paulson strand theatrical version third person narration Todd Field Tolkien VERONICA DECIDES viewer Vinci Code worldwide Writer Nicholas Meyer