Short-film adaptations of Munro's stories in the 1980s. A multimodal stylistic analysis

This paper presents and deconstructs the four clichés regarding the inferiority of adaptations to adapted texts identified by Linda Hutcheon (2013), by examining screen adaptations of Alice Munro's short stories. It focuses on three short Canadian films released in the 1980s: Boys and Girls (1983), Thanks for the Ride (1983) and Connection (1986). The theory derives from Hutcheon's reconceptualization of adaptation(s), while the methodology relies on multimodal stylistic analysis. The inspection of the adaptation process reveals lines of narrative continuity and discontinuity that show the distinct narrative potential of audio-visual artefacts. Contrary to what is commonly thought and expressed by the clichés, the three Canadian films manage to negotiate intimacy and distance through point of view; to express interiority; to shape nonlinear, fractured and layered temporality; to give form to metaphors and other figures. In Thanks for the Ride, the representation and negotiation of intimacy and distance in point of view are central and fluid, functional to the intersectional discussion about gender and social class. Interiority is expressed in Boys and Girls through close-ups and eye-angles, with particular attention to the filmic representation of the female protagonist Margaret. Connection deploys and intertwines two diegetic and temporal plans, and the resurfacing past profoundly affects the present time. Ultimately, all three films convincingly depict a mirror scene, a semiotically layered and complex trope, which represents Munro's concern with introspection.本文以爱丽丝·门罗（Alice Munro）短篇小说的影视改编作品为研究对象，解构并剖析了琳达·哈琴（Linda Hutcheon，2013）所提出的四项关于改编作品劣于原著文本的陈腐观点。本文聚焦于三部1980年代上映的加拿大短片：《男孩与女孩》(Boys and Girls, 1983)、《感谢搭车》(Thanks for the Ride, 1983)与《联结》(Connection, 1986)。本研究的理论框架源自哈琴对改编研究的重构，研究方法则采用多模态文体分析（multimodal stylistic analysis）。对改编过程的考察揭示出叙事连续性与断裂性的脉络，彰显了视听艺术制品独特的叙事潜能。与上述陈腐观点及大众普遍认知相悖，这三部加拿大短片通过叙事视角（point of view）完成了亲密度与距离感的协商，成功实现三项创作目标：传递角色的内在性、构建非线性、破碎化且多层级的时间性，以及为隐喻与其他修辞格赋予具象化形态。在《感谢搭车》中，通过叙事视角实现的亲密度与距离感的呈现与协商，既是核心叙事手法又兼具灵活性，服务于关于性别与社会阶层的交叉性讨论（intersectional discussion）。在《男孩与女孩》中，影片通过特写镜头与眼部角度镜头传递角色内在性，并特别聚焦于女主角玛格丽特的影视化呈现。《联结》则铺陈并交织了两条叙事性与时间性的线索，重现的过往对当下叙事产生了深刻影响。最终，三部短片均出色地呈现了镜像场景——这一符号学层面多层级且兼具复杂性的修辞意象，精准传递了门罗对于内省的关注。