The Authenticity
“The presence of the original is the prerequisite to the concept of authenticity.”
Many notable pieces of literature have been remediated into film adaptations over the years because “literature, like other arts, suggested a vast area of communicative possibilities through which it could speak to the audience.” It is this process of reproduction that affects the true authenticity, and thus the connotations, of the original work. Whether or not this authenticity is retained or distorted varies based on different modes of reproducing. For the purpose of this argument, a famous piece of literature entitled, Pride and Prejudice, will be analyzed, using the codex and examples of reproduced film works from the modern era, in order to prove if remediation alters the authenticity and the connotations present.
In The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Walter Benjamin speaks on how film enhances the effect of the original work by demanding for all of a person’s senses are to be focused on what is being laid out in front of them. This all absorbing and collective experience allows for the connotations of the piece to be easily receivable in comparison to reading plain text on a page. This, according to Benjamin, is because films allow for multiple people to be present when the moving pictures are being displayed rather than an individual reading a book on their own which could cause some disruptions with understanding the meaning of the piece. By cutting and splicing scenes together, the creators have the ability to determine what will be used in order to solidify the connotations that are meant to be explored while ensuring that they are not being interpreted incorrectly. In agreement with this idea is Malgorzata Marciniak when she touched on the concept of the “spirit” of the original work. “In order to be seen as a good adaptations, a film had to come to terms with what was considered as the “spirit” of the book and to take into account all layers of the book’s complexity,” thus connecting the idea of portraying the connotations respectively to the work for the collective audience. However, both Marciniak and Benjamin chose to side with the argument that no matter how much of the original piece, the spirit, is kept true in the reproduction, the authenticity will never be the same. Benjamin claims this is because the "aura" is no longer apparent because the placement in history is no longer prevalent; therefore, making the importance of a piece of art belittled when reproduced rapidly. It is as if the ability to appreciate the art is harder to come by when it is accessible everywhere you go. In today's age, a classic piece of literature can be produced over and over again in multiple forms such as paperback or electronically as opposed to having to read it in its first edition.
