Abstract
This introductory chapter examines the intersection of prestige, adaptation, and the formal and informal cultural systems that serve as arbiters of taste and value. It compares the cyclical nature of awards with the slower process of canon formation, emphasizing the role of adapting the canon in the visual turn, the role of authorship on both sides of an adaptation, and the framing of fidelity as a measure of prestige in different cultural contexts. The performative component of cultural esteem is also discussed, both in terms of how performance itself can earn or maintain prestige and how the spectacle of awards culture adds a public, performative dimension to the conferral of prestige.
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Notes
- 1.
At 2016 exchange rates, in US dollars the Nobel Prize is worth roughly $1 million, the Booker about $65,000.
- 2.
Winner of a 2016 Webby Award for Best Individual Performance, the four-minute video “Steven Spielberg vs. Alfred Hitchcock: Epic Rap Battles of History” also takes critical aim at Quentin Tarantino – the subject of Chapter 10 of this volume – and blockbuster director Michael Bay. http://webbyawards.com/winners/2016/online-film-video/performance-craft/best-individual-performance/steven-spielberg-vs-alfred-hitchcock-epic-rap-battles-of-history/
- 3.
Still, this controversy may also be attributable to the arguably insipid and simplistic nature of Dylan’s lyrics when read on the page rather than performed on stage, as intended.
- 4.
Leitch (2007) also mentions the roots of academic film studies in English departments, the literary background of early pioneers in the field, and their allegiance to Arnoldian notions of the value of high culture as explanations for the early dominance of fidelity approaches to adaptation (3–4).
- 5.
See Guy Austin (2016) for a brief discussion of The Beatles, and their White Album in particular, in terms of Bourdieu’s perspective on popular culture (7).
- 6.
Cinematic genre mashups also tend to fare poorly with audiences. According to Box Office Mojo, the film version of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) barely made half its budget in worldwide returns, a fate even worse than the would-be blockbuster Cowboys and Aliens (2011), a high-concept genre crossover that only barely cleared its budget in global release.
- 7.
For a glimpse of the Lebowski cult, see https://lebowskifest.com/
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Kennedy-Karpat, C., Sandberg, E. (2017). Adaptation and Systems of Cultural Value. In: Kennedy-Karpat, C., Sandberg, E. (eds) Adaptation, Awards Culture, and the Value of Prestige. Palgrave Studies in Adaptation and Visual Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52854-0_1
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