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Adapting History: Applying Adaptation Theory to Historical Film and Television By Nicholas Furze Canterbury Christ Church University Thesis submitted For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2020 Abstract This thesis argues that historical films and television programmes help generate new interpretations of the past, even when they depart from a common interpretation of how history is generally understood. In order to do this a variety of films and television programmes are analysed through the lens of adaptations studies. This thesis presents an analysis of current research in adaptation studies, alongside contemporary research into historical film. Four questions concerning historical adaptation are identified through which an original contribution to existing knowledge is made. These questions are: a) To what extent is an adaptation’s presentation of the past aware of the context of the depicted historical events? b) How can the addition of elements which were not present within the surviving sources, for example anachronisms, function within a historical adaptation? c) How can an adaptation promote a new interpretation of the events which are the focus of the adaptation, as well as how those events relate to the present? d) How can an adaptation be used to inform, critique, or aid in an audience’s understanding of history? The ideas that emerge from a literature review are explored over the course of four separate, but interrelated, case studies. These case studies each focusing on a different aspect of historical adaptation. The results are then combined in the conclusion in order to create a cohesive, central argument about the potential benefits of historical adaptation in film and television. 1 2 Table of Contents ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ 7 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 9 ORIGINALITY......................................................................................................................................... 13 KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................................................................... 16 RATIONALE FOR CHAPTER IDENTIFICATION ............................................................................................ 16 METHODOLOGY AND CENTRAL RESEARCH AREAS .................................................................................. 17 HISTORY, ADAPTATION, AND MEDIEVALISM .......................................................................................... 27 CHAPTER TWO: A REVIEW OF RESEARCH WITHIN ADAPTATION THEORY ....................................................................................................................................... 45 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 45 THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF HISTORICAL FICTION .................................................................................. 46 HISTORICAL FICTION AS A FORM OF ADAPTATION .................................................................................... 53 THE QUESTION OF FIDELITY WITHIN HISTORICAL ADAPTATION. ................................................................ 56 ALTERING HISTORY TO FURTHER TEXTUAL THEMES. ............................................................................... 66 CARTMELL AND WHELEHAN (2010) ON AUDIENCE RESPONSES TO FIDELITY ............................................. 68 THE IMPORTANCE OF FLEXIBILITY WITHIN ADAPTATION .......................................................................... 73 POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF ALTERING GENERALLY-ACCEPTED HISTORY TO CREATE RESONANCE .................. 75 RE-PRESENTATION OF INDIVIDUALS IN HISTORICAL ADAPTATIONS ........................................................... 78 SANDERS AND VAN RIPER ON A MORE FLUID SYSTEM OF ADAPTATION ..................................................... 80 THE ROLE OF ICONOGRAPHY IN HISTORICAL ADAPTATION ....................................................................... 82 THE ROLE OF MEMORY AND AUTHENTICITY IN HISTORICAL ADAPTATION ................................................. 84 VALIDITY IN HISTORICAL ADAPTATION ................................................................................................... 89 3 THE PRIMARY REFERENT IN HISTORICAL ADAPTATION ............................................................................. 96 THE PURPOSES AND BENEFITS OF ANACHRONISMS ................................................................................. 100 ADAPTATION AND ADDITION ................................................................................................................ 104 VERISIMILITUDE .................................................................................................................................. 106 THE QUESTION OF APPROPRIATION ....................................................................................................... 108 MUNSLOW’S (2012) INTERPRETATIVE AND ADAPTIVE APPROACHES TO HISTORY .................................... 110 BLENDING FACT AND FICTION WITHIN HISTORICAL ADAPTATION ........................................................... 112 ON MEDIEVALISM ................................................................................................................................ 114 ON PRESENTISM AND PASTISM .............................................................................................................. 125 THE POSITION OF THIS THESIS WITHIN ADAPTATION THEORY ................................................................. 128 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................... 130 CHAPTER THREE: CONTEMPORARY THEMATIC RESONANCE AND THE ILLUMINATION OF THE PAST IN CINEMATIC DEPICTIONS OF THE BLACK DEATH OUTBREAK OF THE MID-FOURTEENTH CENTURY ........................ 133 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................... 133 CONTEMPORARY THEMATIC RESONANCE .............................................................................................. 145 THE ILLUMINATION OF THE PAST .......................................................................................................... 165 HOW HORROR AND OTHER GENRES CAN BE USED TO ILLUMINATE THE PAST ........................................... 179 POSITIONING A PARTICULAR EVENT WITHIN HISTORICAL ADAPTATION ................................................... 186 USING BOTH THE ILLUMINATION OF THE PAST AND CONTEMPORARY THEMATIC RESONANCE TO CREATE A HISTORICAL ADAPTATION .................................................................................................................... 187 CONSTRUCTING ILLUMINATION OF THE PAST AND CONTEMPORARY THEMATIC RESONANCE .................... 189 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................... 191 CHAPTER FOUR: APPLICATION OF A HISTORICAL AESTHETIC TO GAME OF THRONES (HBO, 2011-2019) .............................................................................. 195 4 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 195 DEFINING THE HISTORICAL AESTHETIC ................................................................................................. 201 ISSUES THAT ARISE WITH THE HISTORICAL AESTHETIC WHEN ADAPTING BOOKS TO TELEVISION .............. 207 RELATING THE HISTORICAL AESTHETIC TO FANTASY ............................................................................. 211 USING A HISTORICAL AESTHETIC TO CRITIQUE INTERPRETATIONS OF HISTORY ........................................ 216 USING A HISTORICAL AESTHETIC TO FURTHER UNDERSTANDING OF SUPERSTITION ................................. 220 UTILISING THE HISTORICAL AESTHETIC THROUGH THE MISE-EN-SCÈNE: HERALDRY ................................ 224 UTILISING THE HISTORICAL AESTHETIC THROUGH THE MISE-EN-SCÈNE: COSTUME .................................. 227 UTILISING THE HISTORICAL AESTHETIC THROUGH THE MISE-EN-SCÈNE: ARCHITECTURE ......................... 234 HOW MUSIC SOLIDIFIES THE HISTORICAL AESTHETIC ............................................................................. 242 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................... 246 CHAPTER FIVE: FLUID NOTIONS OF AUTHENTICITY AND ACCEPTABILITY IN RE-PRESENTATIONS OF THE LIFE OF HENRY VIII IN FILM AND TELEVISION ............................................................................................................. 253 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 253 THE CENTRALITY OF HOLBEIN TO THE PERCEPTION OF HENRY VIII ....................................................... 266 THE INFLUENCE OF AND INFLUENCES ON THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII (KORDA, 1933)..................... 273 YOUNG BESS (SIDNEY, 1953) AS BRIDGE TEXT ......................................................................................

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