Adaptation and Loyalty

Adaptation is the process of transferring any type of text, which was born in its own creation universe, depending on the aesthetic rules of that universe, to another creation universe by removing it from its source, and requires technical skill to a large extent. When we say adaptation, we usually refer to a single approach, in other words; a fixed distance to the main source is always considered to be the same distance. However, how close we will get to the source text, the wing distance often changes. But in general, we use it to inspire the original work, sometimes to convey it exactly with simple changes, and sometimes to reflect it as it is. There seems to be a paradox at this point. Is adaptation an attempt to recreate something that already exists, such as a popular novel? To some extent yes. But in a different genre, mostly in cinema. Almost from the very beginning, world cinema, and Turkish cinema, with an increasing momentum, applied to literary adaptations to a large extent, especially when the 60s were reached. Adaptation as a technique of rewriting and creation has constituted one of the almost indispensable production methods. However, it is always risky and problematic. Although the transfer of one genre to another is in principle fueled by the desire of the audience, in practice it always leads to the same problem: Is it faithful enough to the original work? The history of cinema is full of countless answers to this question and examples of practice. The aim of this article is to make a general assessment of the common features of the problems revealed in adaptation studies. Otherwise, every textual work has its own difficulties and is therefore special in this respect. However, a series of concepts that belong to our emotional world, such as loyalty, betrayal, commitment, destroying, corrupting, misunderstood, and ignoring,  essentially is reflected in the adaptation works as the viewer's value judgment. This situation is like a sign and shows our deep sensitivity towards the uniqueness of the works.

Keywords

Adaptation, Cinema, Literature, Oral Culture