Analyzing the Adaptation of Rebecca from the Novel to the Film in Light of The Black-and-White

Jing Wang(Kansas International School, Zhengzhou Sias University)

Abstract

Classical Chinese aesthetics is based on Chinese philosophy. The characteristic of classical Chinese aesthetics regards “artistic conception” as one of the basic aesthetic categories. Chinese art speaks highly of the charm of the black-and-white. During the adaptation, there is the same beauty in the black-and-white photography and the “color without color” of Chinese paintings. The “artistic conception” is similar between them from the aesthetic perspective. Therefore, the unique “artistic conception” of the novel should be mastered, if the adapter aims to retain the “soul” of it. In other words, film adaptation not only considers “similarity in form”, but also draws much attention to “similarity in spirit”. The latter is the essence of film adaptation.

Keywords

Rebecca; the black-and white; Novel; Film; Artistic conception

References

Du Maurier, Daphne. Rebecca. New York: Avon, 1971.

Garrett, John. The Art of Black and White Photography. London: Mitchell Beazley, 1990.

Haeffner, Nicholas. Alfred Hitchcock. New York: Longman, 2005.

Sloan, Jane. Alfred Hitchcock: A Filmography and Bibliography. New York: G. K. Hall, 1994.

Balzs, Bla. Theory of the Film. Dennis Dobson Ltd., 2003.

Frye, N. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays (Updated Edition). Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006.

Northrop, F. S. C. The Critique of Critical Criticism. Tianjin: Baihua Wenyi Press, 2006.

Zhang, Jinghui (2008). Way is Meaning: The Adaptation from Heart of Darkness to Apocalypse Now in Light of Classical Chinese Aesthetics. Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House, 2008.

Zhu, Gang. Western Literary Theory in the Twentieth Century. Beijing: Peking University Press, 2006.

Zhu, Liangzhi. Fifteen Lectures on Chinese Aesthetics. Beijing: Peking University Press, 2006.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12345/ret.v7i1.18063