McCarthy and the Coens: The Novel versus the Film No Country for Old Men: The Moral Framework of the Novel and the Film (eBook)

McCarthy and the Coens: The Novel versus the Film No Country for Old Men 1
Table of Contents 4
INTRODUCTION 7
1. LITERATURE REVIEW 10
1.1 Cormac McCarthy and the Coen brothers 10
1.2 Screen adaptation 11
1.3 Narratalogy:overview 12
1.4 Relationship of film and literary narrative 13
1.5 Time-space narrative 14
1.6 The western genre in text and film 15
2. FILM ADAPTATION – RE-IMAGINING A LITERARY NARRATIVE 17
2.1 Intertextuality 19
2.2 Fidelity of film adaptation 20
3. LITERARY AND FILM NARRATIVE AS A MACROSTRUCTURE 23
3.1 Narration and a narrator 27
4. NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE 31
4.1 Focalization in literary narrative 32
4.2 Focalization in film narrative 33
5. TIME-SPACE NARRATIVE IN LITERATURE AND CINEMA 35
5.1 Visual regime and narrative rhythm 36
5.2 On the frontiers of mise-en-scène 37
6. HISTORY AND CONVENTIONS OF THE WESTERN GENRE 39
6.1 Iconographic elements of the western 41
6.2 Gender roles in the western genre 42
7. ADAPTATION OF THE FILM NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN 44
7.1 Transfer of the intertexts 47
7.2 Fidelity to the source text 49
8. NARRATIVE CONSTRUCTION IN NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN –THE NOVEL AND THE FILM 53
8.1 The narration and the narrators 56
8.2 The narrative perspective and the characters 59
9. FOCALIZATION IN NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN 64
9.1 Focalization in the novel 64
9.2 Focalization in the film 66
10. NARRATIVE TIME AND SPACE IN NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN 69
10.1 Mise-en-scène at work 72
10.2. Visual regime in the film 74
11. GENRE AND GENDER IN NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN 76
11.1 The iconographic elements of the genre 78
11.2 Gender roles in the genre 80
CONCLUSIONS 83
THESES 86
SOURCES 88
APPENDIX 92

Text Sample: Chapter 2.1, Intertextuality: Various theorists, among them Andrew Dudley (2000) and André Bazin (2005), propose that film adaptation has to be analyzed not in terms of fidelity, but using the critical framework of translation or intertextuality. The term intertextuality has come into the oeuvre of film adaptation, as critics have concluded that adapted cinematic texts are essentially intertexts. Christine Geraghty in her book Now a Major Motion Picture: Film Adaptations of Literature and Drama suggests that 'the appeal to intertextuality has been specifically developed as a methodolological challenge to fidelity model' (Geraghty, 2008:193). She further stresses that recent studies have demonstrated an academic productivity of intertextual approaches in the U.S. and Europe in this area. In the research of intertextuality the central task becomes 'the study of the intertextual universe and to avoid the appearance of a tendency to reinscribe the superiority to the literary source' (ibid, 2008:193). Dimitris Eletheriotis has argued in a similar debate about the importance of intertextuality in genre criticism, 'The fact that everything is intertextual should not be a point of arrival but a point of departure in the investigation of different conditions and forms' (Eletheriotis, 2001:100) Intertextual critics define adaptation as a practice of cultural intertextuality, and always regard film adaptation as a reading of the source text. Robert Stam (2004) argues that 'film adaptation can be seen as a kind of multileveled negotiation of intertexts' (Stam, 2004:46). Besides, Robert Stam and many other critics suggest that expanding availability of film adaptations has to be regarded not as self-contained structures, but as the transformation of other textual structures. Despite various broad definitions on intertextuality, Gérard Genette (1997) restricts it to instances of citation and allusion, where it describes a verbal or visual evocation of another film. Pat Dowel (1992) states that the Western film Unforgiven is surely Fordian with its allusions, mood, and the signature scene - the man with his silhouette against the sunset. Various critics in terms of intertextuality not only point to allusions and mood in the adapted texts, but also to different stylistic characteristics embedded as intertexts from other films, such as doubling effects and use of point-of-view shots. Although there have been many debates on the agreement on the nature of intertextuality, many critics still regard exploration of intertexts in film adaptation as one of the most interesting approaches in the study. Many critics use to explore Cormac McCarthy's oeuvre in regard to intertextuality. Cormac McCarthy (1992) himself has dwelled on the issue of intertextuality in his interview in New York Times, stating that 'it is clear that books are made out of books. The novel depends for its life on the novels that have been written' (McCarthy, 1992). It serves as an indicator that Cormac McCarthy acknowledges intertextuality as an inevitable part in his works. Harold Bloom (2009) in his book Cormac McCarthy stresses that he has drawn attention to intertextuality in McCarthy's work Suttree where his narrative style employs occasional changes of voice and the same technique is used in the novel The Road. For Bloom the relation between The Road and Suttree seems clear and intentional. Whereas John Cant (2004) in his work The Silent Sheriff: No Country for Old Men-A Comparison of Novel and Film has compared McCarthy's Judge from the book Blood Meridian with the Shape in John Carpenter's Halloween, pointing out to several similarities between the characters in terms of inevitable evil that both embody. These are not the only interextualities that are interwoven in McCarthy's works, many other writer's novels exhibit various intertexts. The film adaptation as a practice of cultural intertextuality is undeniably worth observing, as Cormac McCarthy himself has not denied the importance of the various intertexts in his works. Therefore, the research will explore several intertextualities found in the novel No Country for Old Men, observing, whether they have been successfully transferred to the film adaptation by the Coens. The next subchapter looks closer at the issue of fidelity, as it is largely discussed in adaptation criticism and it will serve as a good precursor for the analysis of the film adaptation No Country for Old Men. 2.2, Fidelity of film adaptation: Adaptation criticism often focuses on the question of fidelity. Dennis Cutchins (2010) in her book Adaptation Studies: New Approaches claims that scholars in adaptation studies have addressed the matter of fidelity for more than fifty years. Analogies between source texts and their adaptation continue to direct the reading and interpretation of adaptations. Robert Stam (2005) argues that 'it is important to move beyond the moralistic and judgmental ideal of fidelity' (Stam, 2005:14). He refers to the discussion of fidelity as ineffective, when valuing adaptations. Thus, for Stam fidelity as an evaluative criterion for adaptation studies is ineffective and insufficient. Notwithstanding Stam's rejection of fidelity as a proper matter that concerns adaptation, he has found an explanation of the endurance of fidelity discourse. Stam states that 'fidelity asks important questions about filmic recreation of the setting, plot, characters, themes, and the style of the novel' (Stam, 2005:34). Thomas Leitch, however, offers another explanation: 'the valorisation of fidelity amounts to a valorisation of literature as such in the face of the insurgent challenge of cinema studies' (Leitch, 2003:162). Many theorists still argue what makes a good study of fidelity and which approaches in the study are the most appropriate. Some theorists favour approaches that rest more on distinctions and content and they address the issue of transference of textual spirit. Mikhail Bakhtin and Gerard Genette especially favour the approach of distinction and content, and view adaptations as sets of intersecting codes and signals, texts and intertexts. Andre Bazin (2005) in his book What is Cinema suggests that in order to attain aesthetic fidelity, nothing has to be distorted but remain as objective as possible. For Bazin 'a good adaptation should result in a restoration of the essence of the letter and the spirit' (Bazin, 2005:67). Bazin in his essay In Defense of Mixed Cinema that tackle the process of filmic adaptations, suggests that film adaptations should be less concerned with fidelity to the source material, but rather with equivalence in meaning of the forms. Andrew Dudley has made several references to Andre Bazin, concerning the issue of fidelity, though Dudley himself laments the discussion of fidelity, as it evokes only strident arguments about the differences in both media. Despite his negative attitude towards fidelity, Andrew Dudley gives a good account on Bazin's perception of fidelity, suggesting that 'freedom and flexibility of cinematic language makes a new level of fidelity available' (Dudley, 2011:114). However, without regard to the new perception of fidelity, Bazin does not deny that 'transposing a narrative from written language to cinema obviously changes the technical means of presenting it' (Dudley, 2011:112).Hence, Bazin's solution is that fidelity has to consider the differences between the available cinematic and literary techniques. J.D. Conor in the journal Media and Culture claims that theorist Kamilla Elliott attempts to write beyond the scope of fidelity as 'the fidelity debate is misguided not because fidelity asks the impossible but because at bottom critics of fidelity seek to purge cinema of its literariness' (J.D. Connor , 2007). She appears to be placed outside fidelity discourse, yet, as many other theorists, Elliott does not deny that clarification of adaptation and fidelity issue will always be important. For Brian McFarlane fidelity approach seems 'a doomed enterprise and fidelity criticism illuminating' (McFarlane, 1996:9). McFarlane and other writers on adaptation question the possibility of fidelity, and some theorists claim not to tackle it. Many critics still have maintained a belief that an adaptation has to follow the source text as closely as possible because audiences greatly admire faithfully adapted films; therefore the matter of fidelity in film adaptation is refutable. This leads to think that the study of fidelity is at a place, when observing the relationship between a literary work and a film. Notwithstanding the importance of fidelity in the study, one cannot reject the question of what constitutes a literary and a film narrative; as they serve as a background for analyzing both texts. The following chapter outlines the issue of literary and film narrative, as it undeniably forms a framework for the analysis of the narrative in the novel and the film No Country for Old Men.