Articulations in Translation at the Intersection of World Literature and Popular Culture: Film and TV Adaptations of Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go

Abstract

"This paper examines the British film adaptation and the Japanese TV adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go, asking the following questions: what changes are made in different adaptations? How do these changes relate to the concepts of resistance and incorporation? In addition to the aesthetic choices of the screenwriters and directors, which factors influence these changes? While studies of translations and adaptations from a cultural perspective generally focus on comparisons between the literary systems and ideologies of the source and target texts, adopting such an analytical framework for the discussion of film and TV adaptations risks overlooking the global context and commercial appeal of these adaptations. The interaction, negotiation, and hybridization of these factors may lead to one-sided conclusions when tracing borders between them; therefore, this paper follows the post-Marxist concept of articulation."