Adaptations of Literature for Children and Young Adults - Essay Example

Adaptations of Literatures for Children and Young Adults Children’s literature all around the world has undergone a lot of transformations from the 1990s. Authors of children’s books have gained celebrity status, especially in the aftermath of the unprecedented success of the Harry Potter series. This has also led to the burgeoning of adaptations, especially into movies. Although there had been a tradition of adapting children’s literature into movies early as the 1937 Wizard of Oz, the post-nineties interest in adaptations of Children’s literature was unique in many ways. Apart from the cartoon and animation series that were already in vogue, the new trend invested a lot on latest technology and graphics to produce an entirely new concept of fantasy in order to draw young audiences to theatres. The thin lines that separate reality and fantasy were explored in these productions, as they depicted the world of magic realistically. However, one has to note that they survived not merely on the unreal, but a plot that brings parallels to the many questions of identity that most children are concerned with. This could be thought of as the connecting factor that made the adaptation industry of the 1990s a huge success. Issues of identity surface in most children’s literature from ancient times. In recent times, there had been an extension of Children’s literature through Young Adult’s Literature. The Twilight series has become a sensation among teenagers and its adaptations are on their way to a success comparable to that of the Harry Potter series. The question of identity gets more attention in the literature for young adults, especially since they are at a phase where their own physical and psychological changes astound them beyond description. According to Kerry Mallan, Children’s and young adults’ fiction is typically concerned with existential questions like: “Who am I?” Why am I here?” “Where am I going?” “What does it all mean?” these questions really are concerned about identity and that sense of where am I in the world at this point in time (Mallan). Questions of gender roles and sexuality need to get addressed on a larger scale in young adult’s fiction. Mallan observes that the significant way in which children’s literature has changed in recent years has to do with their representations sexuality and gender. In fact, the change could be attributed further to the directness with which they deal with these issues. The conventions of separate literatures for boys and girls do not exist these days. Boys are not required to pretend that they enjoy all adventure stories and girls are not required to be content with fairytales. Mallan however refers to an interesting instance of an earlier work of children’s literature that deconstructs gender notions to an extent. Gene Kemp’s “The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tylor” presents Tyke for whom the author never uses a gendered pronoun, and the readers are ‘fooled’ to think that Tyke is a boy till it is revealed to be on the contrary in the end of the story. This could be a classic example of gender expectations in our society, which puts a lot of pressure on those children who feel they do not belong to the gender they physically represent. However, times have changed a lot, and along with that, depictions of gender and sexuality in Children’s literature as well. Adaptations of children’s literature will have to deal with these more complex issues in the coming days. A major issue that follows the publication of any book for children is that which concerns the ‘appropriateness’ of the book. Parents, children’s psychologists, editors, writers, reviewers and publishers keep on discussing about this incessantly. However, it seems to be the most difficult area to deal with. How much openness could be there in Children’s books, and how much of the author’s voice could intrude into the independent thinking of its readers? When it comes to adaptations, the major issue could be related to the depiction of human relationships, gender roles and sex. This may redefine conventional notions of appropriateness, especially since there is already an ongoing discussion regarding the need for parental warning for movies that deal exclusively with ‘adult’ themes. In an age when sexual identities are dealt with in children’s literature itself, adaptations may have to deal with graphic representations of sex and it related issues. Mallan refers to the “Gossip Girls” looks that can be compared to “Sex in the City”. An adaptation of such literature will not do away with the central issues it deals with. This may surely raise a few eyebrows, or even press the panic buttons of those parents who are very much concerned about what their teenage children should and should not watch. The influence of video and computer games on the adaptations of children’s literature is amazing. For a child who is exposed to the ultimate possibilities of graphics and animation, a movie adaptation has to try very hard to hold their attentions. Today’s children are much more demanding than adult viewers, and the toughest task of those who involved in making children’s movie adaptations will be to meet these sometimes unrealistic demands. Children will no more be satisfied with beautiful landscapes, swift action and intriguing plots. They may ask for more and more of graphics even in realistic narration. They may also demand that the graphics don’t look artificial, marring the effect storytelling. In short, adaptations for children may become the most demanding endeavor for film makers. What do the present film adaptations of children’s literature reflect? It shows that there is scope for all genres, both from classic and modern literature. A film like Shrek (2001) would have been unthinkable in the 1970s. Though its young audience had mixed reactions and missed the punch of certain dialogues which resonated more with adult sensibilities, the very fact that a movie like that made an impact shows the new directions to which adaptations were headed. Young adults were drawn into movie adaptations. The Nineties’ trend of animation movies slowly gave way to the mixing of genres, the juxtaposition of realist and magical elements. It also led to the slow demise of conventional Disney productions, though Lion King (which was in fact an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet for children and young adults) in 1994 made a huge impact before all this. The discussion regarding the publication of children’s literature reflects upon the way the literariness of children’s books has changed drastically. In fact the ‘books’ have now become part of a package, quite often supplemented with CDs, songs, pictures graphs, maps and so on. There is an option to choose from multitudes of themes and character depictions. Even as the publication industry is concerned about the acceptability and salability factors, it is quite reassuring that the new world brings in the notion of potential readers for any kind of books. This may also have an impact on adaptations. Like genre movies for adults, there could be genre movie adaptations for children. Children may begin to choose their favorite genre and hunt for books and adaptations within that genre. It has to be seen how the boundaries of young adults’ literature and it adaptations will be drawn or broken. The rapid physical and psychological growth that the new generation exhibits, thanks to their exposure a steadily growing consumer culture of fast foods and Internet, may not reflect the maturity required to deal with independent human relationships and its complexities. The representations of Children’s worlds through adaptations are mainly centred on Western media. However, there had been a recent trend in adaptations from other places as well. It must be interesting to explore how the Western adaptations differ from the adaptations that emerge from other places, for instance India. The re-workings of epics for children and young adults have become a trend in recent times, especially with the huge success of animation adaptations like Hanuman. One has to read this alongside the cultural differences that are very much evident in such adaptations and the Western mainstream adaptations. While some see adaptations like Hanuman as something that leads Indian children to be culturally rooted in the fast changing world, some are proud to market t in the west as an example of the magnificent tradition of Indian storytelling. While all this is going on a separatist group in India is skeptical about converting India ‘gods’ to cartoon characters. This provides a typical example of various reactions a seemingly innocent and amusing adaptation for children evokes. Though it may not be comparable to the debates in the Western context regarding the appropriateness and acceptability of adaptations, it raises a few issues the future adaptations from the Western and the rest of the world may produce in the context of globalization. The audiences these days for children’s literature and its adaptations are not restricted to any nation or continent. In the modern age of fast growing technology, cultural and linguistic barriers will cease to exist. And the retelling of stories will surely resonate across cultures, if adaptations are produced after the right amount consideration of the various factors mentioned above. Issues of identities, gender, sexuality and social convention will have to be carefully reflected upon when a story is retold through film adaptations. Moreover, the fast changing world of technology has to be explored to the maximum if one is to hold the attention of highly demanding children and young adults. The graphic depiction of sex and other conventionally adult themes may need much more deliberation before one could come to a specific conclusion. If one decides to make adaptations under a specific genre, one would still have to do a lot of research regarding the potential audiences of such a genre. Moreover, the global, cosmopolitan situation of the current world has also to be taken into account when dealing with issues of cultural identity. My contention is that adaptations of literatures for children and young adults will survive through the present century with drastic transformations, and will serve the purpose of creating and destroying many cultural constructs. Read More