FILM ADAPTATION AS TRANSLATION : AN ANALYSIS OF ADAPTATION SHIFTS IN SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

The purpose of this paper is to approach film adaptation as a modality of translation and to provide a systematic analysis of the changes occurring in the adaptation of a novel for the big screen. These changes, i.e. adaptation shifts, are examined by means of a model that consists of a descriptive/comparative component and an interpretive component. The model is derived from combining insights from adaptation and translation studies and thus builds on the interdisciplinary nature of adaptation studies so as to offer a comprehensive methodological tool for the analysis of adaptations. As processes and products, adaptation and translation involve an act of communication between a source and a target text within a new sociocultural context. In this light, adaptation can be examined as a case of intersemiotic translation in that it involves the transfer of meaning between two different media; in the case of film adaptation, more specifically, meaning is transferred from book to film and the dynamics between the source novel and adaptation is juxtaposed with that between a source text and its translation. The adaptation model is applied to the film adaptation Silver Linings Playbook with an aim to understand the aspects in which This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Ovaj rad dostupan je za upotrebu pod licencom Creative Commons Imenovanje 4.0 međunarodna.


Introduction
This section will briefly discuss some of the similarities between adaptation and translation, and will thus introduce the foundation upon which the model for adaptation analysis is developed."Translation" is used in this paper as an umbrella term that covers several translational processes, including less conventional types of translation, such as the translation of poetry and audiovisual translation.It needs to be noted that the adaptation model with its categories and types of adaptation shifts (i.e. the changes taking place in the transposition of a novel to a filmic text) is discussed in detail in another paper (Perdikaki, "Towards a Model").In the present paper, a brief overview shall suffice so as to outline the main elements of the model, which will be used in the analysis of the film adaptation Silver Linings Playbook.
As processes, adaptation and translation involve similar properties.They both entail the transfer of meaning between texts and both depend on the context of their production and reception so that the meaning transferred can be fully comprehended.According to , adaptation and translation share the following common characteristics: • they involve products which are situated in a complex context of producers, receivers, and various other agents; • they involve utterances or texts and the interaction between texts and their receivers; • translation and adaptation are considered irreversible processes, in the sense that a back-translation is not the same as the source text and, similarly, a novelization of a film adaptation would not be the same as the source novel; • adaptation and translation are teleological as processes, in that they are influenced by source and target (con)text conditioners, the latter of which play a pivotal role in the overall decision-making; • notions of "equivalence" can be traced in both adaptation and translation.
With regard to the last point, it is true that equivalence, in one form or another, has marked the early days of both translation studies and adaptation studies.Up until the second half of the twentieth century, developments in translation studies looked into the dichotomy between "literal" and "free" translation and involved the development of taxonomies of translation shifts (i.e. the differences between the source and the target text).For example, Vinay and Darbelnet (1995) discussed obligatory and optional translation shifts, and scholars such as Catford (1965), van Leuven-Zwart (1989), andHatim andMason (1997) have all looked into translation shifts on levels of grammar, pragmatics, and style.In adaptation studies, there seems to be a similar pattern, which is evident in the fact that, in an effort to systematise the theorisation of the field, scholars such as Chatman (Story and Discourse) and McFarlane (1996) distinguished between parts of the narrative that needed to be adapted as such and those that could be altered in the adaptation.Moreover, Wagner (1975) and Andrew (1976) proposed a classification of adaptations based on the ways in which the adaptation manipulated its relation with the book.
As both fields evolved across the years, the focus has been shifted onto contextual considerations, which ultimately have a bearing on the end product.Such considerations relate to the expectations of the audience at which the translation is targeted and the overall socio-political and cultural context within which the translation is produced and received.Translation is conceptualised as a motivated process that contributes to the overall polysystem of a culture (Even-Zohar 163).The polysystem consists in the aggregate of cultural production.Emphasis is also placed on the factors that monitor the translation process, from the commission of translations to the distribution and dissemination of translated texts.This is what Lefevere (206) calls patronage.Therefore, translation practice is perceived as an activity dependent on agents that exercise control over the texts chosen to be translated, the dominant ideology, and the narrative flows between countries and cultures.
In a similar vein, adaptation has also been viewed as a process that depends on those involved in their making (Hutcheon 84).This relates to the creative vision of the adapters and to the mechanisms monitoring the adaptation industry in the wider film system.In addition, after their release, adaptations can propagate the creation of related texts (Murray 372), thus amounting to an organic part of the creative industries.Therefore, adaptation is part of the polysystem as well.Film adaptation, more specifically, can be considered as an "inter-system" between the literary system and the film industry, influencing creative production at both ends.
It follows then that adaptation and translation are similar as textual processes, in that they transpose a narrative into a new context, and as creative practices, in that they are part of the polysystem and are influenced by tangential systems.The following section presents a model for adaptation analysis that draws upon these affinities.

An Overview of the Adaptation Model
The model for adaptation analysis used in the case study of this paper is based on Van Leuven-Zwart's taxonomy of translation shifts. 1 Furthermore, the model draws upon theoretical insights from narratology, advocating the existence of certain narrative elements that are common to verbal and visual narratives.
The model consists of two components, i.e. a descriptive/comparative and an interpretive one.The former aids the analysis of the source novel and the film adaptation as textual entities with specific narrative aspects in which adaptation shifts can be observed.The latter looks into the reasons explaining the occurring adaptation shifts.The descriptive/comparative component consists of four categories, each of which includes three types of adaptation shifts.These descriptive categories are plot structure, narrative techniques, characterisation, and setting.The types of adaptation shifts adopt the appellation of Van Leuven-Zwart's taxonomy, and can be broadly distinguished under three main types -modulation, modification, and mutation.Modulation shifts imply that there is an aspect of 1 This model was developed in the context of a doctoral project in which it was tested with a small corpus of romance novels / film adaptations (Perdikaki, "Adaptation").The interpretive categories emerged after an analysis of the novels, the films, and their relevant paratexts.Nevertheless, it is possible that more reasons may need to be added so that the model can be applied to a larger corpus.
conjunction between the source novel and the adaptation in that the adaptation foregrounds or underplays aspects that already exist in the source novel.Modification shifts entail an element of contrast or contradiction, in the sense that shifts of this type usually change radically the aspects examined; thus, modification shifts pertain to notable changes in the narrative.Finally, mutation shifts suggest that certain elements are absent from either the source material or the adaptation.Within each descriptive category, the types of shifts acquire a different denomination.As shown in the table above, the descriptive category of narrative techniques has two sub-categories, namely temporal sequence and presentation,and adaptation shifts can be identified in both of them.Temporal sequence includes Genette's (34-5) concepts of order and duration of narrative time.As far as presentation is concerned, this is a term that Chatman (Coming to Terms 113) uses in order to subsume the diegesis favoured by discursive arts and the mimesis favoured by performing arts.As a result, presentation is a concept that can apply to both literature and film in order to refer to ways of narrative communication.Moreover, Stam points out that films both "tell stories (narration) and stage them (monstration)" (35).Verbal narration in films may be achieved by means of voice-over and/or film dialogue.Modulation shifts in presentation in-dicate that the verbal narration of the novel is maintained (for the majority of the event) in the film, in the form of voice-over or dialogue.On the other hand, modification shifts indicate that there is a change from verbal narration to monstration in the adaptation; put differently, the event is mainly "shown" in the film without voice-over or film dialogue intervening.
The interpretive component is used to explain the adaptation shifts identified in the categories of the descriptive/comparative component.It consists of three categories of reasons, which can account for the shifts.The interpretive categories are, namely, economic, creative and social reasons.Economic reasons highlight the commercial aspect of the film-making process, and may account for the shifts from the angle of profit-making; creative reasons focus on the ways in which the source material is re-interpreted on the big screen, and, finally, social reasons pertain to the interplay between a given sociocultural and spatiotemporal context, on the one hand, and the adaptation, on the other.It is worth noting that these reasons may intertwine in some adaptation shifts, in that there may be a combination of reasons as to why certain changes occur from book to film.The interpretive component also makes use of paratexts, that is, monomedial or multimedia texts accompanying another text.In the case of film adaptation, paratexts may refer to both the source novel and the adaptation, and may cover interviews with authors, cast and crew, film trailers, reviews, and other promotional materials.
The following section discusses David O. Russell's film Silver Linings Playbook, an adaptation of Matthew Quick's novel of the same name.The adaptation model is used for the analysis of the film adaptation and its source novel in order to illustrate the specific changes between the novel and the film, and, more importantly, to explain the raison d' être of the adaptation shifts.It is worth noting that, due to space considerations, the analysis will focus on the most prominent shifts and emphasis will be placed on the rationale behind them.

Adaptation Shifts in Silver Linings Playbook
The novel on which the film is based, that is Quick's The Silver Linings Playbook, focuses on Pat, who suffers from mental health problems and tries to re-adjust into reality outside a psychiatric institution.In the book, Pat has been hospitalised for about four years, after an episode of extreme violence against his then wife's lover.After being discharged from the clinic, Pat dedicates his new life to improving himself physically, intellectually, and spiritually, so as to impress his now ex-wife, Nikki when he finally meets her.On his way to recovery appears Tiffany, who also suffers from psychological problems.The story is narrated from Pat's perspective as he writes in his diary; the confessional tone creates an intimate relation with the readers.Narration is in the first person throughout the novel, while at times the style resembles the stream-of-consciousness narrative mode, with Pat's thoughts registered in writing as they spring to his mind.In the cinematic transposition of the book, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence play Pat and Tiffany, respectively, while Pat's parents are portrayed by Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver.

Identifying the Adaptation Shifts
This section discusses the shifts that can be observed between the source novel and the film adaptation (the shifts are interpreted in 3.2.with the aid of paratextual material).Overall, there are notable differences between the novel and the adaptation.There are several plot twists in the film not encountered in the book, while minor characters are expanded in several respects.By contrast, the character of Pat seems to be rather deflated, which may be attributed to the different delivery of his experiences, feelings, and thoughts.The aspect that appears to be the least affected is the setting, as both the temporal and the spatial setting are equally foregrounded in the two media.

Plot Structure
The adaptation features an extensive number of plot modification shifts (i.e.plot alterations), which increase especially after the second half of the film.One of these is Pat's good relationship with his father.Even though it is implied that the two were not always close and that the father had neglected Pat when he was younger, Pat's father is obviously concerned about his son and actively tries to mend their relationship.In sharp contrast, in the book, Pat's father hardly ever talks to him, and Pat admits that he is afraid of his father.Furthermore, in the book, it is clear that the relationship between Pat's parents is also problematic, given that the father frequently abuses his wife verbally and psychologically.Football is the only code of communication between Pat and his father and, in essence, Pat's only means of reaching out to his father.However, his father is not always receptive or approachable, and their relationship remains damaged until the end.This is not the case in the adaptation, where all problems are resolved and the film reaches a happy ending on multiple levels.
Another plotalteration is the fact that, in the film, Pat retains the memory of the violent episode that led to his hospitalisation.In the adaptation, Pat's mental disorder is clearly identified as undiagnosed bipolar disorder, the symptoms of which are then explained by both Pat and his doctor.His overall demeanour, consisting of fast-paced speech, anxiety, and erratic behaviour, further reflects his disorder.On the contrary, in the book, his mental health problem remains vague and a clear definition is not provided.Interestingly, Pat often refers to himself as "mentally deranged" (Quick 74) and "crazy" (Quick 97), but, in this, he is only voicing what other people think of him.At the same time, he juxtaposes his clinically proven mental disorder against the behaviour of "sane" people, which he finds irrational and unjustified.In this way, he highlights the bias against people suffering from mental health problems, which nevertheless originates from people who may also act violently but do not carry the stigma of a diagnosed disorder.
At the same time, the Silver Linings Playbook film accommodates quite a few plot amplifications(a modulation sub-type of shift).The most important of these is the amplification of the romantic core of the story.In the film, it is clear from early on that Pat develops romantic feelings for Tiffany -close-ups show him peek at Tiffany's body, while the song playing in the background mentions the closure of a past love.By contrast, the novel rarely hints on the development of the romance.This may be due to the fact that the story in the book is narrated in first person, and, as a result, readers experience the story through Pat's perspective; in the book, Pat remains completely focused on achieving his self-improvement so as to impress Nikki and only rarely notices Tiffany's feminine characteristics.

Narrative Techniques
A noteworthy shift in temporal sequence appears in the time that Pat spends in the psychiatric clinic, i.e. four years in the novel as opposed to eight months in the film (a modulationshift).A crucial modification shift consists in the fact that the audience finds out about Pat's violent episode in the beginning of the film, and not in the end, as is the case in the book.The memory of this event sets the overall tone of the film adaptation, and it serves to introduce Pat's bipolar disorder to the audience.
In presentation, modification shifts abound as monstration is constantly replacing the narration of the novel.For example, while every action and thought are narrated by Pat in the slightest detail in the novel, the film often resorts to montages without voice-over, thus allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions.Interestingly, although the film does not focus solely on Pat's perspective, there is an intimate link imposed between Pat and the audience at crucial points of the plot.More specifically, viewers get to see the violent incident between Pat and his ex-wife's lover through Pat's eyes.During the flashback to the episode, which Pat recounts to his therapist, viewers are literally placed in Pat's shoes: the scene is made up of point-of-view shots, and the camera shows only Pat's perspective as he enters the house and makes his way towards the shocking discovery.In a similar vein, when one of Pat's hallucinating episodes takes place, the audience experiences the episode as if they themselves were experiencing it, with the images getting hazier and more menacing by the minute.

Characterisation
The amplification of Pat and Tiffany's romance (modulation shift in plot structure) is inextricably linked with modification shifts in Characterisation.Both Pat and Tiffany exhibit overdramatic behaviours, such as emotional outbursts and rapid changes in their mood.Of course, it can be argued that such behaviours are caused by their mental health conditions.Nevertheless, there is a clear tendency of accentuation compared to the novel.The novelistic Pat comes across as a person who has reflected on his past mistakes, and tries to make amends through his restorative daily regime -he works out excessively; he reads classic works of literature and has adopted a new philosophy of life, which teaches him to be "kind instead of right" (Quick 51).As a result of these changes, he filters his thoughts and words before verbally expressing them.This creates a confessional communication with the readers, as Pat registers his way of thinking in a stream-of-consciousness manner.
The cinematic Pat is too vocal and expressive.This can be interpreted in two ways.On the one hand, there may have been an effort to emulate the confessional tone of the source novel by presenting Pat verbalise his thoughts on the spot.On the other hand, Pat's less structured thinking process in the film could be attributed to the fact that it may not have been possible to transpose the introspective monologue of the novel onto the big screen.This echoes Bluestone's (57) argument that mental states such as memory, dream, and imagination cannot be as adequately rendered in film as in language.Notably, the film captures Pat's confusion and haziness through deploying cinematic techniques such as fade-outs and blurred shots.Nevertheless, the sophisticated rationalisation of his thoughts, which runs through the novel, is downplayed in the adaptation to some extent, since Pat does not provide an elaborate justification of his behaviour as he does in the source novel.As a result, it can be argued that Pat's character is simplified in the adaptation (characterisation modulation shift) in that the motivations leading to his actions are not brought to the fore.
Contrary to the protagonist's simplification, minor characters are allowed greater space and time to develop.One of these is Pat's father (portrayed by Robert De Niro), who acquires a more complex dimension in the adaptation compared to the novel (modulation -amplification shift).In the book, Pat's father hardly ever speaks to him, and is presented as an abusive father and husband who turns down his son's attempts to strike up a conversation.The dynamics is completely overturned in the film adaptation.The father exhibits obsessive compulsive behaviour and, therefore, psychological issues become common to both father and son.What is more, the father repeatedly tries to approach Pat in an effort to make up for past mistakes.It is now Pat who rejects his father's effort to reach out to him.
Pat's mother, played by Jacki Weaver, is also amplified in the film adaptation.In both the book and the film, the mother remains by her son's side as she is the one discharging him out of the clinic.Nevertheless, her role as a stabilising force seems to be heightened in the adaptation, given that she usually appears to tone down the tension created in the household, while she often intervenes when her husband and son are having an argument.The change of her name from "Jeanie" (in the book) to "Dolores" (in the film), which derives from the Spanish word "dolor" meaning "pain, " may be seen as an additional indication of her anguish to cope with an admittedly tense dynamics created between her bipolar son and her obsessive compulsive husband.

Setting
As can be seen in table 1, the category of setting has two further sub-categories, i.e. temporal and spatial setting.Setting is the category which presents the fewest shifts in the adaptation under examination as neither aspect of setting is changed to a great extent.A notable shift is the amplification of the temporal setting (modulation shift).More specifically, Pat's friend, Ronnie experiences a constant angst to make money and prove accountable to his family and colleagues, which is not encountered in the source novel.Ronnie's agony over his finances could be linked with the economic crisis that was evident by 2012, when the film was released.As far as the spatial setting is concerned, the adaptation underscores the fact that the story is set in Philadelphia (modulation -amplification shift).In fact, as Bradley Cooper admits in an interview, he tried to -literally -accentuate the Philadelphian aspect of the character by exaggerating his accent and idiolect ("DP/30 @ TIFF 2012: Silver Linings Playbook, actor Bradley Cooper").
In what follows, the identified adaptation shifts are interpreted against relevant paratexts.This analysis sheds light on the inter-relations between shifts in the descriptive categories and on the ways in which the different agents involved in the adaptation convey their own reinterpretation onscreen.

Interpreting the Adaptation Shifts
As noted in section 2, the interpretive component of the adaptation model includes three categories of reasons that can explain the adaptation shifts, i.e. economic, creative, and social reasons.Paratexts can help deconstruct the rationale behind the changes between the source novel and the adaptation.As pointed out in section 2, some adaptation shifts may be motivated by a combination of reasons.It is also worth noting that the paratexts used to decipher these reasons may point in more than one direction.For example, the director's commentary may provide an account of how the source material was re-interpreted, but it may also refer to economic considerations that resulted in certain decisions being made.Put differently, there is not a one-to-one relationship between paratexts and reasons.
In Silver Linings Playbook, some of the adaptation shifts can be explained on the basis of the director's overall approach to the subject-matter of the film.David O. Russell has admitted that his personal experience of mental health problems played an important part in his directing of the film.Russell has a bipolar son, and his own mother suffered from mental health issues, which had not been diagnosed at the time due to the limited knowledge surrounding mental health ("Silver Linings Playbook -Bradley Cooper and David O. Russell Interview 2012 -AFI FEST 2012"; "David O. Russell on his career and Silver Linings Playbook").Therefore, Russell's primary concern was to remove the stigma of mental illness and highlight the perspective of those suffering from such issues and of the people closest to them ("Silver Linings Playbook Press Conference -Festival 2012").In fact, the film closely monitors the ways in which Pat perceives his bipolar disorder and others' behaviour towards him.For example, the memory of the violent incident that resulted in his hospitalisation, a plot shift discussed in 3.1.1.,makes the audience more conscious of the protagonist's mental illness, which aligns with the director's creative and social considerations when making the film adaptation.
Furthermore, the amplification of the mother's character may also be explained on the basis of those premises.As previously noted, Pat's mother constantly acts as a cushion for her son's and husband's psychotic behaviours and serves as facilitator of communication.Tiffany plays a similarly reconciliatory role as she helps Pat and his father to get closer to each other after another of their arguments.The two women do not serve similar functions in the source novel.The director attributes these characterisation shifts to his admiration for women who need to handle such challenging situations and to his effort to underscore their perspective in the story ("Silver Linings Playbook reviewed by Mark Kermode").The fact that his own mother suffered from mental health issues inspired Russell to promote the mother's important role in the family, hence the amplification of the mother's character.In this way, Russell chose to cast the spotlight on the dynamics created in the family when a member suffers from mental health problems and on the impact such problems have on the patient's family as well.
Other characterisation shifts seem to result from a combination of creative and economic reasons.As mentioned in 3.1.3., the character of Pat's father is amplified in the film.This shift is linked with one in Plot structure, that is, the change in the relationship between father and son, which is less damaged in the adaptation.It can be argued that the fact that Robert De Niro portrays Pat's father is related to these shifts.As the source novel's author admits in an interview, the father's character was tailored to De Niro's acting style (Allen).This is important from a creative as well as an economic perspective.De Niro is a well-known actor with a noteworthy track record.In addition, he usually plays crabby and foul-mouthed characters.As a result, it may have been expected that adapting the father's character to De Niro's acting persona would increase the artistic gravitas of the film.At the same time, a film featuring Robert De Niro in this role would be appealing to prospective viewers, thus increasing the profitability of the film.In a similar vein, it is likely that casting Jennifer Lawrence in the role of Tiffany also aimed at scoring high at the box office, since Lawrence's stardom had already been established through the first instalment of the Hunger Games film series.In fact, the film was acclaimed critically for the cast's performances, and is also among the ten highest-grossing films of its genre ("Silver Linings Playbook").Therefore, in this case, the shifts that were motivated by economic and creative reasons were also positively received on a commercial and artistic level.
A shift in plot structure discussed in 3.1.1.seems to be inspired by the director's reinterpretation of the source material and by the actors' own creative input.As noted earlier, the relationship between Pat and his father is different in the film, and the two of them get closer as the story unfolds.This is related to both creative and social reasons.The emphasis on the relationship between Pat and his father and the associated changes from the source novel stem from the director's intention to capture authentic behaviours, which was why he allowed the actors to improvise on set.It also relates to the chemistry between Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro, which was developed through their collaboration in Limitless.As Cooper points out in an interview, he actively sought out De Niro for the role of the father so that the demanding scenes involving Pat and his father would be acted out as naturally as possible ("Bradley Cooper on acting and Silver Linings Playbook").On his part, De Niro resorted to his own personal experience, and, more specifically, to the fact that he has an autistic son, so that he could portray the agony of a father who felt helpless to deal with his son's distress.As the director and the two actors admit in an interview, making the film was a cathartic experience for them because they invested in it personally and artistically, and they were able to touch upon the sensitive issue of mental health, encouraging a better understanding thereof ("What Brought the Cast of Silver Linings Playbook to Tears?").Of course, the economic element may still be present here in that such justification of the approach to the source material may have been part of the promotion of the film.However, the fact that the film touched upon issues dear to the director and the actors reinforces the conclusion that such adaptation shifts were mainly motivated by creative and social considerations.
The above-mentioned suggests that some of the most prominent adaptation shifts that can be observed in Silver Linings Playbook were not simply a matter of logistic considerations of transferring the novel to the big screen or an inability to translate the source novel faithfully.On the contrary, they seem to be the result of conscious decisions that relate to the creative impulse and the social motivation of promoting the issue of mental health.At the same time, certain shifts were made with economic interests in mind, since the film was a Hollywood production, and box-office profit was all the more important.The following section summarises the findings emerging from the application of the adaptation model to the examined film and makes suggestions for further research.

Concluding Remarks
This paper applied a model for the analysis of film adaptation to Silver Linings Playbook.The analysis gave rise to adaptation shifts in specific narrative aspects, which amalgamate in the film adaptation being a creative entity in its own right.These shifts are not merely related to the meaning-making capacities of the novel and the film as media; they also refer to conscious decisions that have their roots in an intricate interplay of reasons, ranging from economic, to creative, and social ones.
Above and beyond merely comparing the adaptation and its source novel, the model can unearth the inter-relations between the adaptation shifts by resorting to the broader context of the film system and the creative industries, more generally.In the adaptation under analysis, the interpretive categories of the model helped understand the reasons behind the adaptation shifts by examining more closely the attitude of director and the cast to the narrative at hand.This interpretive approach to the adaptation shifts examined the adaptation not only as a textual entity based on a pre-existing source novel but also as an organic representation of the re-interpretive stance of the people involved in its making.
Moreover, the use of paratexts in interpreting the adaptation shifts points to an interesting source of information when it comes to holistically analysing the adaptation process and product.Put differently, paratexts accompanying the source material and the adaptation can elicit insight into the factors influencing the adaptation process.The twofold analysis, realised by means of the model, can raise awareness of the role of adaptation in the broader context of the creative industries.It can also underscore the inter-relations between adaptation and other practices, such as creative writing and translation.Further research, such as similar analyses with different genres and types of adaptation, can establish whether this kind of analysis is applicable to other cases of adaptation more broadly.Emphasis should also be placed on the role of audiences in the continuation of adapted meaning.By incorporating such aspects to the adapta- The descriptive/comparative component of the model is illustrated in the following table: