The History of American Literature on Film

Thomas Leitch

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9781501390753
• eBook ISBN:
  9781628923728
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: North American Literary Criticism

From William Dickson's Rip Van Winkle films (1896) to Baz Luhrmann's 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 right-one 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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents 
• List of Figures
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Introduction: American Cinema and American Literatures
• 2. 1895–1915: The Attraction of Adaptation
• 3. 1915–27: American Exotics
• 4. 1927–39: Novel Impressions
• 5. 1939–51: Invisible Adaptation
• 6. 1951–67: Weaponized Best Sellers
• 7. 1967–75: Counterculture Classics
• 8. 1975–89: Screening the Silenced
• 9. 1989–2007: Adapt or Die
• 10. 2007–18: Entertainment for Me
• Bibliography
• Index
• Imprint