Semiotics of narration in film and prose fiction
Subtitle: case studies of "Scarecrow" and "My friend Ivan Lapshin"
By: Benjamin Rifkin.
Series: Russian and East European studies in aesthetics and the philosophy of culture ;; v. 2
Publisher: P. Lang; Lang AG International Academic Publishers, Peter
Published: 1994
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 249
Subjects: Motion pictures and literature; Intertextuality; Narration (Rhetoric); Film adaptations; Russian literature -- Film and video adaptations
Description: This interesting study of film adaptation focuses on two pairs of works, each consisting of a Russian novella and a Russian film: V. K. Zheleznikov's "Scarecrow" (1981) and R. A. Bykov's Scarecrow (1983); and Ju. P. German's "Lapshin" and A. Ju. German's My Friend Ivan Lapshin (1985).

The author examines the transformation of the narrator's discourse in the adaptation process and discusses the meaning conveyed by signs and sign systems unique to the filmic text and its medium, including lighting, foregrounding and backgrounding, and the soundtrack. In his analysis, the author demonstrates how filmmakers use sign systems unique to film to add and/or alter meanings conveyed in the literary texts on which their films were based.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-239) and index.