Abstract
This chapter explores the adaptation network initiated by Carel Fabritius’s 1654 painting, which includes Donna Tartt’s 2013 bestselling novel and John Crowley’s 2019 film. For Newell, the initial play between trompe l’oeil and still life evident in Fabritius’s painting and developed in the critical discourse shapes the adaptation strategies of The Goldfinch(es) as well as their critical response. Each iteration generates an interpretive disconnect as audiences attempt to answer the question “What is it?” Debates over the generic categories that best describe the works reveal that the scandals present in The Goldfinch(es)’ adaptation network are those of adaptation studies in general, which likewise grapples with how to discuss adaptations as adaptations without having categories of “the thing” and “yet not the thing” overdetermine that discussion.
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Notes
- 1.
My goal here is not to suggest that trompe l’oeil and still life are exclusive genres, but rather to explore how the characteristics of trompe l’oeil or still life are emphasized in discussions of The Goldfinch.
- 2.
Stone-Ferrier provides a comprehensive overview of critical positions on the question of display. See in particular paragraphs 7–11, pages 2–3, and notes 7 and 9, which I summarize here.
- 3.
While still life and nature morte are used interchangeably, the French phrase, as Michael Petry points out, is more “suggestive of the layered symbolism of the genre and its poignant reminders of the transience of life and the ever-present threat of death” (6).
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Acknowledgments
I am grateful to David A. Stivers, who offered invaluable feedback on early drafts of this chapter.
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Newell, K. (2023). Adaptation and Scandal in The Goldfinch. In: Leitch, T. (eds) The Scandal of Adaptation. Palgrave Studies in Adaptation and Visual Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14153-9_7
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