This multi- and interdisciplinary conference explores cinematic adaptation as a
transnational practice between the area formerly known as Mitteleuropa and the US over the
last century from different angles and perspectives, with particular emphasis on German-
American relations. The conference will examine Hollywood films by expatriate directors,
German films based on American literary works, and American films based on German
literary works, including remakes and international co-productions from the early twentieth
to the twenty-first century. Particular attention will be given to émigré and exiled directors,
stars, and crews of the Pre- and Post-World-War years, to the Junger/Neuer Deutscher Film
of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, but also to contemporary co-productions and international
blockbusters. We welcome proposals addressing the manifold forms that adaptation can take
in order to reflect on its discursive effects on both sides of the Atlantic.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
- The “literary canon” of US-Mitteleuropean cinematic adaptation (Eric Maria
Remarque, Patricia Highsmith, Vera Caspary, James L. Cain, etc.)
- Adaptation and expatriate directors (Michael Curtiz, Fritz Lang, Ernst Lubitsch,
Otto Preminger, Robert Siodmark, Douglas Sirk, Erich von Stroheim, Josef von
Sternberg, Billy Wilder, Fred Zinnemann, etc.)
- Adaptation and the Junger/Neuer Deutscher Film (Schlöndorff, Fassbinder,
Wenders, etc.)
- Audiovisual translation as adaptation
- Post-adaptation effects: paratexts (book packaging: retitling, book covers, etc.)
and reception (book reviews, etc.)
- The mediating role of authors/scriptwriters/producers/actors in the adaptation
process
- Adaptation and film genres
- Adaptation and film remakes
- Adaptation and film scores
- Adaptation and place: the double careers of expatriate/international stars
- International co-productions (Wes Anderson, Wolfgang Petersen, Tom Tykwer,
etc.)
Deadline for submissions: 25 February 2024
For more information, click here.
