From The Go-Between (L. P. Hartley, Joseph Losey) to Atonement (Ian McEwan, Joe Wright): Intertextual and Interfilmic Aesthetics

Many essays have shown how rich intertextuality is in McEwan’s novel. Among the sources most often studied, L. P. Hartley’s The Go-Between is usually mentioned as both a thematic and generic influence. Joe Wright has also often alluded to Losey’s adaptation of the novel when commenting on his own wo...

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Main Author: Laurent Mellet
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée 2018-12-01
Series:Études Britanniques Contemporaines
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/ebc/5377
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author Laurent Mellet
author_facet Laurent Mellet
author_sort Laurent Mellet
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description Many essays have shown how rich intertextuality is in McEwan’s novel. Among the sources most often studied, L. P. Hartley’s The Go-Between is usually mentioned as both a thematic and generic influence. Joe Wright has also often alluded to Losey’s adaptation of the novel when commenting on his own work in Atonement. This article examines the conclusions on this intertextuality put forward by Natasha Alden, Earl G. Ingersoll and others, and questions whether they may be of any significance when considering interfilmicity in Wright’s adaptation. Losey’s influence is more immediately formal and aesthetic, revealing a complex web of correspondences between the two novels. Building on this double influence, I propose new interpretations of prominent motifs such as vision and focalisation, the tableau vivant, imagination as the vector of narration, the metanarrative questioning of language and the distortion of events in Atonement and its adaptation, within the framework of not only thematic but above all formal intertextuality and interfilmicity.
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spelling doaj.art-6606bdfdba194b45a6578b089b518b092022-12-22T02:40:10ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeÉtudes Britanniques Contemporaines1168-49172271-54442018-12-015510.4000/ebc.5377From The Go-Between (L. P. Hartley, Joseph Losey) to Atonement (Ian McEwan, Joe Wright): Intertextual and Interfilmic AestheticsLaurent MelletMany essays have shown how rich intertextuality is in McEwan’s novel. Among the sources most often studied, L. P. Hartley’s The Go-Between is usually mentioned as both a thematic and generic influence. Joe Wright has also often alluded to Losey’s adaptation of the novel when commenting on his own work in Atonement. This article examines the conclusions on this intertextuality put forward by Natasha Alden, Earl G. Ingersoll and others, and questions whether they may be of any significance when considering interfilmicity in Wright’s adaptation. Losey’s influence is more immediately formal and aesthetic, revealing a complex web of correspondences between the two novels. Building on this double influence, I propose new interpretations of prominent motifs such as vision and focalisation, the tableau vivant, imagination as the vector of narration, the metanarrative questioning of language and the distortion of events in Atonement and its adaptation, within the framework of not only thematic but above all formal intertextuality and interfilmicity.http://journals.openedition.org/ebc/5377McEwan (Ian)Wright (Joe)Hartley (L. P.)Losey (Joseph)adaptationintertextuality
spellingShingle Laurent Mellet
From The Go-Between (L. P. Hartley, Joseph Losey) to Atonement (Ian McEwan, Joe Wright): Intertextual and Interfilmic Aesthetics
Études Britanniques Contemporaines
McEwan (Ian)
Wright (Joe)
Hartley (L. P.)
Losey (Joseph)
adaptation
intertextuality
title From The Go-Between (L. P. Hartley, Joseph Losey) to Atonement (Ian McEwan, Joe Wright): Intertextual and Interfilmic Aesthetics
title_full From The Go-Between (L. P. Hartley, Joseph Losey) to Atonement (Ian McEwan, Joe Wright): Intertextual and Interfilmic Aesthetics
title_fullStr From The Go-Between (L. P. Hartley, Joseph Losey) to Atonement (Ian McEwan, Joe Wright): Intertextual and Interfilmic Aesthetics
title_full_unstemmed From The Go-Between (L. P. Hartley, Joseph Losey) to Atonement (Ian McEwan, Joe Wright): Intertextual and Interfilmic Aesthetics
title_short From The Go-Between (L. P. Hartley, Joseph Losey) to Atonement (Ian McEwan, Joe Wright): Intertextual and Interfilmic Aesthetics
title_sort from the go between l p hartley joseph losey to atonement ian mcewan joe wright intertextual and interfilmic aesthetics
topic McEwan (Ian)
Wright (Joe)
Hartley (L. P.)
Losey (Joseph)
adaptation
intertextuality
url http://journals.openedition.org/ebc/5377
work_keys_str_mv AT laurentmellet fromthegobetweenlphartleyjosephloseytoatonementianmcewanjoewrightintertextualandinterfilmicaesthetics