Serendip is an independent site partnering with faculty at multiple colleges and universities around the world. Happy exploring!

Reply to comment

cevans's picture

if you try and make

if you try and make litereary evolution the exact same as biological evolution of course they aren't the same thing but I think it might be a little harsh to say adaptations are absolutely not evolutions of the original work. The way I think about it an adaptation is the same general framework after it has been exposed to different selection pressures, whether they be the preferences of the author, the society, or the publisher. i don't know if you can really say that any book being written is a single decision, its more like an accumulation of decisions. So although it may be on a more personal scale, and a much shorter time frame an adaptation is the evolution of one work into another through the pressures of its new 'environment'. I think this is the word thing because adaptation IS NOT biological evolution. There are however similarities in the concepts, the problem comes from the fact that evolution really is a loaded word.

Reply

To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.
4 + 6 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.