Framing Empire

'"Interfidelity", combining a film adaptation's faithfulness to its source text and culture with its ability to talk back to them, may sound like an oxymoron. In the hands of Jerod Ra'Del Hollyfield, however, it becomes a potent tool for examining eight Hollywood adaptations that open urgent new questions about Victorian classics, colonial discourse, and filmmaking industry practices. Anyone who writes about the politics of adaptation should read Hollyfield, and anyone who writes about adaptation in any context should come to terms with his challenge to consider adaptation as a mode of resistance.'
Thomas M. Leitch, University of Delaware
Framing Empire examines postcolonial filmmakers adapting Victorian literature in Hollywood to contend with both the legacy of British imperialism and the influence of globalised media entities.
Since decolonisation, postcolonial writers and filmmakers have re-appropriated and adapted texts of the Victorian era as a way to 'write back' to the imperial centre. At the same time, the rise of international co-productions and multinational media corporations has called into question the effectiveness of postcolonial rewritings of canonical texts as a resistance strategy. With case studies of films like Gunga Din, Dracula 2000, The Portrait of a Lady, Vanity Fair and Slumdog Millionaire, this book argues that many postcolonial filmmakers have extended resistance beyond revisionary adaptation, opting to interrogate Hollywood's genre conventions and production methods to address how globalisation has affected - and continues to influence - their homelands.
Jerod Ra'Del Hollyfield is an academic and filmmaker. His work has been published in several journals and edited collections, and his short film Goodfriends has been exhibited at film festivals and was endorsed by national disability organisations.
Cover image: The Four Feathers, Shekhar Kapur, 2002 © Paramount Pictures
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ISBN 978-1-4744-2994-8
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JEROD RA'DEL HOLLYFIELD is an Associate Professor of Film Studies and Communication at Carson-Newman University. His work has been published in several journals and edited collections, and his short film Goodfriends has been exhibited at film festivals and was endorsed by national disability organisations. He is the creator of The Assisted Stories Project, a collection of video essays that aims to preserve and promote the narratives of the American South's elder population.