The Peter Pan story in the literary and cultural imagination: exploring the many re-imaginings of J.M. Barrie’s story S.R. le Roux 25638289 Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Magister Artium in English at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University Supervisor: Dr M. du Plessis-Hay Assistant supervisor: Dr Y.V. Botha May 2016 Abstract This study examines adaptations of the Peter Pan story in three films and a graphic novel, in order to compare the different ways in which adaptation can be justified. In the various films and the graphic novel, the Peter Pan story and the various characters therein are represented in different ways. The theories of Bassnett and Lefevere, Hutcheon, and Jakobson were applied to the various chosen adaptations of the Peter Pan story. The sources consulted with the purpose of discovering which semiotic elements of the Peter Pan story were reinterpreted and recreated across the various adaptations are the original Peter Pan versions, namely: The Little White Bird (1902); an untitled typescript by an unknown typist of Barrie’s play Peter Pan (1904/05); Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1910); Peter and Wendy (1911); a scenario by Barrie for a proposed film of Peter Pan (c. 1920); and the published playscript Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Would not Grow Up (1928). The adaptations chosen for this study are: Peter Pan (silent film, 1924); Disney’s Peter Pan (animation, 1953); Peter Pan (live action, 2003); and Peter Panzerfaust (graphic novel, 2012- ). These adaptations were chosen according to their significant changes and similarities to the original story Through the application of the previously mentioned theories and the comparison to the original Peter Pan versions, the study determined that: even though the various adaptations re-imagined the original Peter Pan story and were viewed as unfaithful versions of the original text, they were successful in appropriating the story of Peter Pan. These adaptations recreated and reinterpreted the semiotic elements from the original story, through the transformation of “verbal signs” into “nonverbal sign systems”, as well as adherence to the “cultural reality” called for by Bassnett and Lefevere. The study assesses the extent to which each adaptation was a successful reinterpretation of the Peter Pan story according to the “gains” and “losses” that occurred in each case, and concludes that all the adaptations exhibited some successful elements, but that the later adaptations, less concerned with textual fidelity, were often the most successful recreations. Keywords Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie, The Little White Bird (1902), Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906), Peter and Wendy (1911), Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Would not Grow Up (1928), proposed film script of Peter Pan (c. 1920), intersemiotic translation, palimpsest, adaptation, stage, film, silent film, graphic novel, children’s literature, equivalence, Peter Panzerfaust (2012- ), film adaptation, “cultural turn”, Bassnett and Lefevere, Hutcheon, Jakobson. i Acknowledgements I would firstly like to thank Prof. A.M. de Lange and the Research Unit: Language and Literature in the South African Context, NWU-Potchefstroom. Their financial support, with regards to academic bursaries and a grant to attend the Alice Through the Ages Conference (September, 2015) at Homerton College, Cambridge, are greatly appreciated. The latter grant also allowed me a few invaluable days of research at the British Library in London. Special thanks are also due to Elsa van Tonder and Bernice McKenzie for their administrative help and guidance. To my supervisor Dr M. du Plessis-Hay, thank you for all your time, effort, support and patience with a student who was thinking more of Neverland than academics. This dissertation would not have been possible without your thoughtful edits and advice. I am also grateful to Dr Y.V. Botha, who served as assistant supervisor, for helping me with the theoretical approaches in chapter 2. To the librarians of the British Library, my sincerest gratitude for their helpful suggestions and keeping me in love with old books. Thank you to Wynand, my family and friends for their continual support and love. ii Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................. i Keywords ................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. ii Sources of illustrations ........................................................................................................... v List of Tables ......................................................................................................................... xi Notes on citation ................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Contextualisation and problem statement .............................................................................. 1 Context: catching the wonders of Neverland .............................................................. 3 Research questions .................................................................................................... 6 Basic hypothesis ........................................................................................................ 7 Approach and methodology ........................................................................................ 8 Literature review .................................................................................................................. 10 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 2: Theoretical contexts ........................................................................................ 17 “The art of repeating stories” ................................................................................................ 17 Adaptation as translation .......................................................................................... 18 Translation as adaptation ......................................................................................... 25 Palimpsest ............................................................................................................... 30 The graphic novel as a form of literature .............................................................................. 32 Origins and seminal works ....................................................................................... 32 A little bit of chaos: defining the terms comic and graphic novel ............................... 38 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 42 Chapter 3: James and Peter: Barrie’s versions of the Peter Pan story .......................... 44 An overview of J.M. Barrie and the evolution of Peter Pan ................................................... 44 Peter Pan and the various (re)tellings by Barrie ....................................................... 50 “No one is going to catch me” ................................................................................... 52 Kensington Gardens — a province of fairyland ......................................................... 54 The boy who would not grow up and the shadow of a girl on stage .......................... 58 From stage to page — Peter Pan in print ................................................................. 61 Whetting “the appetite for marvels”: Barrie’s film scenario ........................................ 65 The play gets immortalised in print ........................................................................... 69 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 69 iii Chapter 4: Freeing the imagination: the Peter Pan story on film ................................... 71 Peter Pan (Silent Film, 1924) ............................................................................................... 72 Disney sinks its hook into Peter Pan (Film, 1953) ................................................................ 78 Peter Pan: a shadow of a boy .................................................................................. 86 Peter Pan (Film, 2003) ......................................................................................................... 87 An American boy, and bringing a fairy back to life .................................................... 94 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 96 Chapter 5: The immortal boy child in WW II .................................................................... 99 “To die will be an awfully big adventure” .............................................................................. 99 Peter Panzerfaust — as graphic novel and work in progress .................................. 102 “Peter breaks through” ........................................................................................... 105 “[Q]uite