The ‘Twist’ in the Transcultural Adaptation of Tennessee Williams’s Play The Glass Menagerie (1944) into Shyamaprasad’s Film Akale (2004)

Authors

  • Sreelakshmi KV Shenoi Goembab School of Languages and Literature, Goa University
  • Nina Caldeira Shenoi Goembab School of Languages and Literature, Goa University

Abstract

The award-winning Malayalam film Akale (2004), directed by Shyamaprasad, exemplifies the transformative power of transcultural adaptation, adding a distinctive twist to The Glass Menagerie (1944), the memory play by Tennessee Williams, a luminary in American literature. The twist in Akale (2004) lies in i) its cultural adaptation to the fading stereotyped Anglo-Indian community of Kerala metaphorically symbolised as ‘glass menageries’, and ii) the stylistic shift from ‘telling’ their story to ‘showing’ or representing them on the big screen. While both texts delve into human tragedy, the cultural and cinematic adaptation explores layers of reinterpretation, shaped by and resonating with the socio-cultural and historical contexts of mid-20th-century America, in the case of The Glass Menagerie (1944) and that of the 21st-century Kerala in Akale (2004). Drawing from Linda Hutcheon’s theory of adaptation, this study posits that Shyamaprasad’s creative process goes beyond mere replication; instead, it establishes a site of intercultural dialogue. By reimagining Williams’s work for a new cultural and temporal setting, the film highlights the universality and adaptability of the art of storytelling.

Keywords: Anglo-Indians, transcultural adaptation, twist, human tragedy, stereotype

Author Biographies

  • Sreelakshmi KV, Shenoi Goembab School of Languages and Literature, Goa University

    Sreelakshmi KV is a Ph.D. Research Scholar at the Shenoi Goembab School of Languages and Literature, Goa University. Her academic interests include postcolonial studies, cultural studies, and regional literature. Her research focuses on the representation of migration and the cultural identities of Kerala.

    Email id: [email protected]

  • Nina Caldeira, Shenoi Goembab School of Languages and Literature, Goa University

    Dr. Nina Caldeira is Professor of English at the Shenoi Goembab School of Languages and Literature, Goa University. She is the former Dean of the Faculty of Languages & Literature, Goa University. She specialises in Postcolonialism, Multiculturalism and Studies on Goa. She has authored the book Multiculturalism and the Marginalised Psyche in Select Representative Fiction of Canada and edited the book Goa through the Traveller’s Lens and the book Tradition, Continuity and Change: Goan Society in Transition(s). Email ID: [email protected]

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Published

2024-12-27