The History of American Literature on Film

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From William Dicksons Rip Van Winkle films (1896) to Baz Luhrmanns big-budget production of The Great Gatsby (2013) and beyond, cinematic adaptations of American literature participate in a rich and fascinating history. Unlike previous studies of American literature and film, which emphasize particular authors like Edith Wharton and Nathaniel Hawthorne, particular texts like Moby-Dick, particular literary periods like the American Renaissance, or particular genres like the novel, this volume considers the multiple functions of filmed American literature as a cinematic genre in its own rightone that reflects the specific political and aesthetic priorities of different national and historical cinemas even as it plays a decisive role in defining American literature for a global audience.

Reviews

A thrilling story of the history of American literature on screen, from Hollywoods inception to the present, The History of American Literature on Film demonstrates Hollywoods diverse and fraught relation to American literary traditions. A boon to film, literature, adaptation, and media scholars, the book provides a history of Hollywood film, as well as a valuable analysis of the variegated and multiple scripts that provoke and serve as sources for film adaptations. Focused on distinct themes, yet wide-ranging and full of important insights about American film, literary, and media cultures, this exhilarating book is as informative as it is deeply pleasurable to read. * Julie Grossman, Prof. of English and Communication and Film Studies, Le Moyne College, USA *
This monograph benefits from Thomas Leitchs extensive career researching and teaching American literature, film, and adaptation. Rigorously researched and rich with knowledge and insight, this wide-ranging, multi-faceted, deftly integrates larger purviews with closer analyses, bringing fresh and rigorous insights to long-standing debates. This formidable achievement is a valuable contribution to adaptation studies. * Kamilla Elliott, Professor of Literature and Media, University of Lancaster, UK *
A superb achievement. Leitch challenges conventional notions of literature and history and in doing so puts practices of adaptation at the heart of Hollywood cinema. Writing with characteristic wit and intelligence, he traces how American cinema, in its irreverent approach to its national literature, shaped the cultural context for best-sellers, classics and comic books alike. Those who just dip in will find insights on every page, not just into films, stars and genres but into topics as diverse as the shift to sound in the 1930s and convergence culture in the 2000s. But Leitchs real achievement is to carry his sustained argument with such vigour and conviction over so many years of cinema history and so many pages of this absorbing book. * Professor Christine Geraghty, Honorary Professorial Fellow, University of Glasgow, UK *

Author Bio

Thomas Leitch is Professor of English at the University of Delaware, USA. His most recent books are Wikipedia U: Knowledge, Authority, and Liberal Education in the Digital Age (2014) and The Oxford Handbook of Adaptation Studies (2017).