Sept. 22 lecture at Syracuse University to explore myriad adaptations

Sept. 22 lecture at Syracuse Universityto explore myriad adaptationsSeptember 17, 2004Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

The Judaic Studies Program and the Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University will sponsor “Familiarity and Contempt: Adaptation-The Lecture, Not the Movie,” a presentation by Linda Hutcheon, Sept. 22 at 4:15 p.m. in the Kilian Room, Room 500 of the Hall of Languages.

The lecture is free and open to the public. A reception will immediately follow.

Hutcheon, a leading postmodern theorist, will present her latest research. Her new project theorizes adaptation, not just cinematic adaptations of literary texts but also musicals, operas, song covers, radio plays, video games and theme parks, among others. Hutcheon attempts to go beyond the usual “case-study” approach and seeks common denominators across genres and media by theorizing adaptation in terms of its semiotics (as a product), its poiesis (as a creative process) and its hermeneutics (the process of reception).

Hutcheon is professor of English and comparative literature at the University of Toronto. Her influential works include “Narcissistic Narrative: The Metafictional Paradox” (1980); “A Theory of Parody: The Teachings of Twentieth-Century Art Forms” (1985); “The Canadian Postmodern: A Study of Contemporary English-Canadian Fiction” (1988); “A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, Fiction” (1988); “The Politics of Postmodernism (1989); “Splitting Images: Contemporary Canadian Ironies” (1991); and “Opera: Desire, Disease, Death” with Michael Hutcheon (1996).

For further information, contact Pam Paul in SU’s Judaic Studies Program at 443-5671.