52695 Adaptations
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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
Requisite(s): 16 credit points of completed study in spk(s): MAJ10051 Creative Writing Major OR 12 credit points of completed study in spk(s): MAJ09477 48cp Writing and Publishing Major OR 12 credit points of completed study in spk(s): MAJ09489 48cp Writing and Publishing Major
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 54073 Genre Writing AND 58902 Writing Through Genre
Description
This subject introduces students to the practices, techniques, and theories of repurposing existing texts to create original works. Its specific focus is on how adaptation is understood and executed by the writer or storyteller. Students explore the ways in which writers work collaboratively in generating stories within industry and professional contexts. They consider notions of ethical and responsible storytelling when working on cross-cultural adaptations. Through individual and group exercises and projects, students have the opportunity to test theories and ideas, as well as produce creative work across a variety of media, either text-based or transmedial.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
| a. | Reinterpret and adapt texts from one genre, form or medium to another |
|---|---|
| b. | Utilise critical frameworks to theorise interpretive and creative processes in the context of adaptation |
| c. | Respond to the specific challenges presented by adaptation, including problems of cultural appropriation, issues of intellectual property and copyright, and ethical dilemmas |
| d. | Explore social and collaborative practices in creative writing, storytelling and artistic, cultural and literary production |
| e. | Develop intermediate skills in professional creative practice |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject engages with the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs), which are tailored to the Graduate Attributes set for all graduates of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences:
- Apply theoretically informed understandings of communication industries to independent and collaborative projects across a range of media (1.2)
- Act as reflexive critical thinkers and innovative creative practitioners who evaluate their own and others' work (2.2)
- Analyse and act ethically in the personal, political and professional contexts of civil society (5.1)
- Utilise digital literacy and production skills across a range of media (6.2)
Teaching and learning strategies
This subject is delivered through a combination of online content, tutorials, and group workshops. Online, students watch lectures, view case studies, read, watch and ‘play’ texts, and engage in interactive activities to build their critical awareness of the theory and practice of adaptation, including the ethical and legal considerations. Students practice their skills as sole practitioners, adapting an existing text into a new genre, medium or form. From week 6, in extended live workshops, students collaborate to design a larger adaptation, working collaboratively through a series of structured activities, employing design thinking. Reflection on the group task is individually assessed. Students receive formative feedback before week 4 through writing exercises and work shared in class.
Content (topics)
Students engage with theories of adaptation such as book to film, film to book, or novel to graphic novel. Cross-audience and cross-cultural adaptations are also considered, such as the repurposing of fairy tales, the adaptation of canonical texts into contemporary young adult fiction, and the translation of Shakespeare into Noongar language. Students explore non-traditional adaptations such as musicals, board games, video games, and theme parks. The practice of adaptation will be further contextualised in terms of critical, ethical and legal considerations, including the economics of adaptation and the opportunities for reaching established audiences, or creating new audiences for established texts.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Individual creative work
| Objective(s): | a, b, c, d and e | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight: | 50% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 1500 words | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 2: Group creative work
| Weight: | 50% |
|---|---|
| Length: | Students prepare a folio of staged activities, equivalent to 500 words per student (or 2000 words per group). Individual critical reflection, 1000 words, engaging with three scholarly readings from the course. |
Minimum requirements
Attendance at classes is essential in this subject. Classes are based on a collaborative approach that involves essential workshopping and interchange of ideas with other students and the tutor to build capacities towards meeting the subject learning objectives. A roll will be taken at each class (whether on campus or online). Students who have more than two absences from class will be refused marking of their final assessment (see Rule 3.8).