From Fiction to Film Adaptation: Prognosis of Postmodern Barebones in Alice Walker’s Selected Fiction

Abstract

This research explores the differences between Steven Spielberg's film adaptation and Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple, using Linda Hutcheon's A Theory of Adaptation to highlight the differences between the two works. This research is qualitative in nature. It looks at how the adaptation process changes or reframes the book, especially about Black literary themes, resistance, and reconstruction. To evaluate the film's accuracy, the study uses qualitative, descriptive, analytical, and applied methodologies, as well as Karen Gocsik's Writing about Movies and Hutcheon's theory, among other sources. Analysis shows notable variations in visuals, costuming, and milieu representations, with the movie focusing on subplots to appeal to a broader audience. The results shed light on how adaptation decisions affect audience interpretation and point to the need for more investigation into how these choices affect the retention or modification of original themes, which may eventually be extended to other literary works that have been made into films.