AT 08 ABe
ABSTRACTS
The Transformation from a Mythic Tale into a
Cinematic Reading: A Comparative Analysis
Elmira Dadvar & Hamidreza Rahmatjoo
Tehran University
Literature has been the perpetual site of myths. Myths have penetrated from among the ancient national cultures into texts and have resumed their lives in different forms. Out of these texts,
"children's literature" that originally included stories and legends for kids has always been, due to its intrinsic characteristics, the proper form for the mythic content. From this point of view, the story of
"Little Red Ridinghood "—which, far beyond a simple story for children, is an embodiment of the European myth of the "werewolf"— can be a proper subject for a cultural and comparative study.
The reappearance of this story and myth (the myth of the werewolf) in a contemporary cinematic work is good cause for the researchers to take a second look at it in this article. The approach adopted in this article is a comparative analysis of two different ways of artistic expression-- the literary and the cinematic-- considered to be one of the often debated subjects in comparative literature today.
The basic question is what thematic and conceptual changes the story has undergone during its evolutionary journey from an ancient tale to a cinematic product. What is the origin of these changes and how can they be understood? In order to find a response to these questions, the psychoanalytic concepts of Jung and Freud, and also the theories of some comparatists have been helpful to us; the reader can hence reach a more comprehensive understanding of modern man's complicated way of thinking.
Keywords: myth, the myth of werewolf, literature and cinema, Little
Red Ridinghood, adaptation, psychoanalysis
Comparative Literature 4:2 (Fall & Winter 2013)
Abstracts
7
The Reception Theory in Literary Criticism and
Comparative Literature
Khalil Parvini & Masoud Shokri
Tarbiat Modares University
The close bond between science and
The Transformation from a Mythic Tale into a
Cinematic Reading: A Comparative Analysis
Elmira Dadvar & Hamidreza Rahmatjoo
Tehran University
Literature has been the perpetual site of myths. Myths have penetrated from among the ancient national cultures into texts and have resumed their lives in different forms. Out of these texts,
"children's literature" that originally included stories and legends for kids has always been, due to its intrinsic characteristics, the proper form for the mythic content. From this point of view, the story of
"Little Red Ridinghood "—which, far beyond a simple story for children, is an embodiment of the European myth of the "werewolf"— can be a proper subject for a cultural and comparative study.
The reappearance of this story and myth (the myth of the werewolf) in a contemporary cinematic work is good cause for the researchers to take a second look at it in this article. The approach adopted in this article is a comparative analysis of two different ways of artistic expression-- the literary and the cinematic-- considered to be one of the often debated subjects in comparative literature today.
The basic question is what thematic and conceptual changes the story has undergone during its evolutionary journey from an ancient tale to a cinematic product. What is the origin of these changes and how can they be understood? In order to find a response to these questions, the psychoanalytic concepts of Jung and Freud, and also the theories of some comparatists have been helpful to us; the reader can hence reach a more comprehensive understanding of modern man's complicated way of thinking.
Keywords: myth, the myth of werewolf, literature and cinema, Little
Red Ridinghood, adaptation, psychoanalysis
Comparative Literature 4:2 (Fall & Winter 2013)
Abstracts
7
The Reception Theory in Literary Criticism and
Comparative Literature
Khalil Parvini & Masoud Shokri
Tarbiat Modares University
The close bond between science and