Is the Film as Empowering as the Book? Studying Empowerment in A Monster Calls

Fatemeh Farnia

doi:10.32798/dlk.33

Published: 2019-07-24

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2019)

Is the Film as Empowering as the Book? Studying Empowerment in A Monster Calls

Fatemeh Farnia

Dzieciństwo. Literatura i Kultura

Section: Studies

https://doi.org/10.32798/dlk.33

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to discuss A Monster Calls (2016) by J. A. Bayona, a film adaptation of Patrick Ness’s novel (2011) of the same title, based on an original idea by Siobhan Dowd, from the empowerment theory perspective. The author of the article indicates that there are some significant changes between the book and the motion picture, especially when it comes to the ways of empowering the protagonist and the works’ potential young audience. The results of this comparative study show that the film is more affectively empowering than the novel. This is mainly because in the book, Ness skillfully uses verbal narration (accompanied by Jim Kay’s illustrations), while in the film, Bayona takes advantage of the possibilities offered by the audiovisual medium, therefore providing the audience with artistic and psychological empowerments.

Keywords:

A Monster Calls, adaptation, children’s and young adult film, children’s and young adult literature, empowerment, J. A. Bayona, Patrick Ness

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Farnia, F. (2019). Is the Film as Empowering as the Book? Studying Empowerment in A Monster Calls. Dzieciństwo. Literatura I Kultura, 1(1), 147–158. https://doi.org/10.32798/dlk.33

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Fatemeh Farnia

ffarnia@hotmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4607-6567

Affiliation:

Shiraz University Iran, Islamic Republic of

Bio Statement (e.g., department and rank)

Fatemeh Farnia – PhD, is a member of Shiraz University Centre for Children’s Literature Studies (Iran). Her research interests include empowerment in children’s and young adult literature, especially in picturebooks and YA novels, and theory of children’s literature. Contact: ffarnia@hotmail.com.