Subversive Adaptations : Czech Literature on Screen Behind the Iron Curtain

231 Pages·2016·3.576 MB·English

by  Petr Bubeníček

PALGRAVE STUDIES IN ADAPTATION

AND VISUAL CULTURE
Subversive Adaptations
Czech Literature on Screen
behind the Iron Curtain
Petr Bubenícek
Palgrave Studies in Adaptation and Visual Culture
Series Editors
Julie Grossman
Le Moyne College
Syracuse, NY, USA
R. Barton Palmer
Clemson University
Clemson, SC, USA
This new series addresses how adaptation function as a principal mode of text
production in visual culture. What makes the series distinctive is not only its
focus on the various forms of visual culture as both targets and also sources
of adaptations, but also its commitment to include forms beyond film and
television, such as videogames, mobile applications, the plastic arts, interactive
fiction and film, print and non-print media, and the various manifestations of the
avant-garde. As such, the series will contribute to an expansive understanding
of adaptation as a central, but only one, form of a larger phenomenon within
visual culture. Adaptations are texts that are not singular but complexly multiple,
connecting them to other pervasive plural forms: sequels, series, genres, trilogies,
authorial oeuvres, appropriations, remakes, reboots, cycles and franchises. This
series especially welcomes studies that, in some form, treat the connection
between adaptation and these other forms of multiplicity. We also welcome
proposals that focus on aspects of theory that are relevant to the importance of
adaptation as connected to various forms of visual culture.
Advisory Board
Sarah Cardwell, University of Kent, UK
Deborah Cartmell, De Montfort University, UK
Timothy Corrigan, University of Pennsylvania, US
Lars Ellestrom, Linnaeus University, Sweden
Kamilla Elliott, Lancaster University, UK
Christine Geraghty, University of Glasgow, UK
Helen Hanson, University of Exeter, UK
Linda Hutcheon, University of Toronto, Canada
Glenn Jellenik, University of Central Arkansas, US
Thomas Leitch, University of Delaware, US
Brian McFarlane, Monash University, Australia
Simone Murray, Monash University, Australia
James Naremore, Indiana University, US
Kate Newell, Savannah College of Art and Design, US
Laurence Raw, Baskent University, Turkey
Robert Stam, New York University, US
Constantine Verevis, Monash University, Australia
Imelda Whelehan, University of Tasmania, Australia
Shannon Wells-Lassagne, Universite de Bretagne Sud, France
More information about this series at
http://www.springer.com/series/14654
Petr Bubeníček
Subversive
Adaptations
Czech Literature on Screen behind the Iron Curtain
Petr Bubeníček
Masaryk University
Brno, Czech Republic
Palgrave Studies in Adaptation and Visual Culture
ISBN 978-3-319-40960-3 ISBN 978-3-319-40961-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-40961-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017937911
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights
of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction
on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and
information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication.
Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied,
with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have
been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published
maps and institutional affiliations.
Cover Image from Karel Zeman’s The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (1958). Courtesy of
Ludmila Zeman. All rights reserved.
Printed on acid-free paper
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature
The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
For my grandfather
A
cknowledgements
The beginnings of this book can be traced back to the time I spent at the
Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg Foundation in Greifswald, Germany
in 2013, where I was provided with excellent conditions for conducting
research. I then continued working on the book at the Department of
Czech Literature of Masaryk University.
I would like to extend my warmest thanks to my close colleagues at
Masaryk University, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University, and the Czech
Academy of Sciences: Stanislava Fedrová, Zuzana Fonioková, Miroslav
Kotásek, Jiří Koten, Jan Tlustý, and Petr Vokřínek, who listened to me
patiently, provided me with much advice, and altogether helped out on
this project. This book would not have been possible without the sup-
port of Zbyněk Fišer, who allowed me the time I needed to work on
it. Special praise is owed to my wonderful students Vladimíra Derková,
Jakub Jedounek, Gabriela Sládková, and Jana Vrzalíková, whose help
in completing this book was simply invaluable. I am also indebted to
Nicholas Orsillo for his revision of the English text and for his perceptive
remarks that led me to rethinking and rewriting in many places.
I am particularly beholden to several excellent scholars: adaptation
theorist Kamilla Elliott, literary theorist Petr Steiner, aesthetician and
philosopher Jaroslav Střítecký, and literary historian Dalibor Tureček,
all of whom gave me feedback on the early drafts of this book. I would
also like to thank literary theorist Alice Jedličková for taking the time to
speak with me on multiple occasions about intermediality studies and for
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
attentively reading my manuscript. Film historians Jaromír Blažejovský,
Ivan Klimeš, Lukáš Skupa, Pavel Skopal, and Petr Szczepanik also helped
me out greatly along the way. Many thanks belong to Pavel Švanda for
discussing Czech film with me and for reminding me of the pivotal role
Pavel Juráček played in the 1960s.
I would also like to acknowledge the help of my colleagues who
read various parts of the book and posed some great questions:
Michal Fránek, Libuše Heczková, Pavel Janáček, Kyle Mike, Jana
Nechutová, Petr Šámal, Jiří Trávníček, and Jan Wiendel. Jiří Hanuš’s and
Jiří Knapík’s advice concerning the historical context of my book was
invaluable.
The employees of Barrandov Studio made it possible for me to access
archival materials, and for that I am grateful. Similarly, it was a pleasure
to work with Denisa Lešková at the Karel Zeman Museum.
Finally, I would like to thank my wife Broňka for her understanding
and support, and my daughter Terezka for her smiles.
c
ontents
1 Introduction 1
2 Adaptation as Subterfuge: Silvery Wind 43
3 Adaptation as Play: The Worlds of Jules Verne
Come Alive 85
4 Adaptation as Challenge: Marketa Lazarová
and Romance for Flugelhorn 129
5 Adaptation as a Reflection of the Zeitgeist 169
6 Epilogue 197
Works Cited 205
Index 217
ix
l f
ist of igures
Fig. 2.1 Stříbrný vítr (Silvery Wind; Václav Krška 1954).
Courtesy of Ludmila Zeman. All rights reserved 66
Fig. 2.2 Stříbrný vítr (Silvery Wind; Václav Krška 1954).
Courtesy of Ludmila Zeman. All rights reserved 72
Fig. 3.1 Vynález zkázy (The Fabulous World of Jules Verne;
Karel Zeman 1958). Courtesy of Ludmila Zeman.
All rights reserved 90
Fig. 3.2 Vynález zkázy (The Fabulous World of Jules Verne;
Karel Zeman 1958). Courtesy of Ludmila Zeman.
All rights reserved 105
Fig. 3.3 Ukradená vzducholoď (The Stolen Airship;
Karel Zeman 1966). Courtesy of Ludmila Zeman.
All rights reserved 110
Fig. 3.4 Ukradená vzducholoď (The Stolen Airship;
Karel Zeman 1966). Courtesy of Ludmila Zeman.
All rights reserved 117
Fig. 4.1 Marketa Lazarová (Marketa Lazarová; František
Vláčil 1967) 139
Fig. 4.2 Romance pro křídlovku (Romance for Flugelhorn;
Otakar Vávra 1966) 154
Fig. 5.1 Žert (The Joke; Jaromil Jireš 1968) 186
Fig. 5.2 Žert (The Joke; Jaromil Jireš 1968) 192
xi