Colleen Kennedy-Karpat, assistant professor in the Department of Communication and Design, has coedited a new collection of essays. Titled “Adaptation, Awards Culture, and the Value of Prestige,” the book was published by Palgrave Macmillan as part of the “Palgrave Studies in Adaptation and Visual Culture” series.
The book explores how different forms of cultural prestige – awards, the canon, and audience engagement, for example – are reflected in adaptations across and within media forms. It contains essays that discuss authors ranging from Jane Austen to Alison Bechdel and media ranging from television to theater, and film to graphic novels.
The book is organized in three sections, with each covering a different aspect of prestige and adaptation. The first section looks at how awards affect the circulation of texts across media forms, while the second explores how adaptations in visual media treat canonical authors’ work. The final section, which includes a chapter by Dr. Kennedy-Karpat, considers socially designated prestige alongside more formal indicators of cultural esteem.