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Comparability and Value in Comic-to-Film Adaptations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 May 2024

Henry John Pratt Open the ORCID record for Henry John Pratt [Opens in a new window]
Henry John Pratt*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
*
Email: henry.pratt@marist.edu
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Abstract

In this article, I argue, adverting to critical practices, that film adaptations are comparable with the comics that serve as their sources. The possibility of comparison presumes the existence of covering values according to which these comparisons are made. I raise four groupings of covering values for comics—narrative, pictorial, historical, and referential—and show how they apply to film adaptations as well, and argue that a fifth kind of value, fidelity, is relevant to comparisons of source comics to film adaptations. I close with a discussion of different types of fidelity that might be brought to bear in evaluation.

Keywords

adaptationcomparabilitycovering valuesfidelitycritical practicescomicsfilm
Type
Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Philosophy , Volume 53 , Issue 7-8: Themed Issue: Philosophy of Comics , October 2023 , pp. 697 - 709
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Inc.

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