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Song Adaptations of Literature by Kate Bush

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Song Adaptations of Literature by Kate Bush 1 Stepping out of the Page: Song Adaptations of Literature by Kate Bush BA Thesis English Language and Culture, Utrecht University Kiki Drost 4147529 Dr. Roselinde Supheert (Supervisor) Dr. Sarah Chambers (Second Reader) June 2016 2 Contents Contents P. 2 Introduction P. 3 Chapter One: Deeper Understanding P. 5 Chapter Two: Wuthering Heights P. 10 It’s me, Your Cathy P. 11 Conclusions P. 14 Chapter Three: The Red Shoes P. 16 Dance You Shall P. 16 The Line, the Cross and the Curve P. 18 I’m Gonna Dance the Dream P. 19 Conclusions P. 22 Chapter Four: The Sensual World P. 24 Our Arrows of Desire Rewrite the Speech P. 24 Stepping Out of the Page P. 27 Conclusions P. 28 Conclusion P. 30 Works Cited P. 32 Appendix One (Song Overview) P. 35 Appendix Two (Lyrics) P. 38 Appendix Three (Stills) P. 42 3 Introduction Kate Bush is a British singer-songwriter, musician and record producer, who was born in Bexleyheath, Kent on the 30th of July 1958. She first became famous when she was 19, when she topped the British pop charts with her debut single “Wuthering Heights” in 1978. Since then she has released many songs and albums and became a famous and influential individual in the music industry. One of Bush’s trademarks is that she writes songs that allow her to put herself into fictional situations and, in a way, become someone else and tell stories from this perspective (Reynolds, and Press 282, 292). Some of these storytelling-songs have been inspired by existing stories or literature. In the first appendix a list of all songs that were inspired by literature can be found, which shows Bush’s connection to literature. These songs can be seen as adaptations: the original sources are interpreted by Bush and placed in a song. Bush pretends to be part of the fictional world in question and adapts this world and the character. By using adaptation theory, this study will give a comparative analysis of the work of Kate Bush and the originals she based her songs on. In order to be able to appreciate Bush’s work as adaptations it is important to understand adaptation theory. The first chapter will therefore consist of an overview of some studies in adaptation theory and will also provide an academic background on Bush, which shows her importance and places her in an academic context. Three songs will then be discussed in detail: “Wuthering Heights,” “The Red Shoes,” and “The Sensual World.” “Wuthering Heights” will be discussed because it is not only Bush’s best-known song, but also because it is the most obvious example of an adaptation: it bears the same name as the original and adapts a well-known novel. “Wuthering Heights” is often mentioned when Bus is discussed, especially when she is discussed within the context of adaptation studies. “The Red Shoes” will be discussed because of similar reasons: it shares a name with its original and adapts a well-known fairy tale. Furthermore, it adapts more than one work, which makes it 4 interesting to see how this influences the adaptation. “The Sensual World” will be discussed because it is a less obvious adaptation, which makes it interesting to see what this means for the adaptation process. The lyrics of the discussed songs can be found in the second appendix. With a basic understanding of adaptation theory in mind and by looking in close detail at three different songs, it can be argued that the most important thing Kate Bush does is that she takes the characters of the source texts she adapts out of their original context and gives them a different voice and, in a way, frees them from their sources. Although Bush also creates interesting music videos for her songs and the music itself is also worth analysing, this study will mainly focus on the lyrics, because they resemble text and a comparison with the originals is therefore easier. Furthermore, by not taking the other aspects of the song into account, there is room to discuss three different examples, which will strengthen the argument. However, it will sometimes be necessary to discuss the music video or music of one of the songs, so they will not be ignored completely. Important stills from the videos, as well as other important stills can be found in appendix three. 5 Chapter One: Deeper Understanding When analysing Kate Bush’s literary allusions and adaptations, it is important to consider two types of criticism; that concerned with Kate Bush and her music, and that concerned with adaptation theory. When a basic knowledge about Bush’s music is combined with an understanding of adaptations, Bush’s literary songs can be appreciated and understood much better. Although Kate Bush is not a traditional academic subject, several academics from different disciplines have written about her and her career. This resulted in interesting studies about her fans, her influences, the influence she has had on others, her lyrics and more. The present literature review will mainly focus on studies that looked into her influences; what has driven Bush to write the songs she has written. Ron Moy analysed all Bush’s albums, excluding her 2011 albums 50 Words for Snow and Director’s Cut, in which he focussed on three different aspects; issues of (British and Irish) national and ethnic identity, auteur theory; notions of authorship, authenticity and artistic intent, and the relations between her musical and her video performances (3-4). He argued that Bush has an obvious connection to film and loves referencing film in her music (132-3). Some of the films she adapts are in turn adaptations themselves, so it seems that Bush uses literature indirectly rather than making a direct adaptation of a novel. Moy further concludes that Bush’s most successful albums are those that are conceptual in nature: mainly focussing on her 1985 album Hounds of Love, but also her 2005 album Aerial. Films have been mentioned as an influence on Kate Bush by other scholars as well, such as Graeme Thomson, who mentions it on various occasions in his biography Under the Ivy. The song “Wuthering Heights,” for example, is perhaps Bush’s most obvious example of an adaptation and has been inspired, not by the eponymous novel by Emily Bronte, but by the 1967 BBC adaptation, of which a scene with Cathy at the window 6 had caught Bush’s attention (FitzGerald-Morris 31). She wrote her song after having also read the novel and both the novel and the BBC adaptation have inspired her song, making it a palimpsest. Within adaptation studies, a palimpsest refers to an adaptation that does not adapt just one source, but also the adaptations that came after that. Something else that has been mentioned as an influence on the young Kate Bush is her mother’s nationality; her mother, Hannah Daly, originally came from Southern Ireland. Bush’s brother John Carder Bush has said that their mother “filled [their] house with her Celtic beauty and her singing; her philosophy of life always referenced her childhood and upbringing in the rural south of Ireland” (11). Thomson also comments on Bush’s connection to Ireland, describing that as a child she lived in a “more mythical England, a pre-Christian Celtic land, a deep, green dream of a country that has never truly existed except buried deep within [people’s] minds” (11). He also mentions children’s literature as an influence on the young Bush (11) and the family’s connection to spiritualism (16). The loving, artistic family with Irish Celtic influences she grew up in is something that is often mentioned when critics describe her influences. When she grew older, and later when her career took off, film became another important influence. The Irish Celtic background will become relevant in the discussion of “The Sensual World.” The influence of film is very relevant when discussing the songs “Wuthering Heights,” as has been briefly mentioned before, and “The Red Shoes.” Although more studies about Kate Bush have been carried out and more could be said about what influenced her, these previously discussed sources capture the essence of the influences relevant for the songs that will be discussed. More has been written about adaptation theory than about Bush. Most studies in adaptation theory look into film adaptations, although other forms of adaptation, such as literary adaptation have not been ignored. A better understanding of film adaptations can in turn also give more insight into Bush’s adaptations. Linda Hutcheon explains that adaptations 7 are nothing new. However, when film came into the picture, adaptation theory developed. At first, most critics were not fond of film adaptations of literature (2-3). Since then adaptation theory has developed; with the coming of postmodernism people no longer felt that one form of art was superior to the other and people found new ways to look at adaptations (Slethaug 20). In the 1950’s George Bluestone explains that films based on novels were preferred and were more likely to succeed and win awards. He furthermore makes a distinction between film and novels; comparing the two is unfair, since they are completely different media, even if the story of one is based on the story of the other. Robert Stam agrees on this and argues something similar: a more intertextual and nuanced take on film adaptations rather than a judgemental take is preferable, since it takes the differences of media into account (45-46). Although both Bluestone and Stam focus on film adaptations, their comments are not untrue for other forms of adaptation; whenever something is adapted from one type of media into another, change is bound to happen.
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