Which major pitfall in early adaptation criticism does Robert Stam explicitly critique in his work on intertextuality?
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Correct answer: Fidelity discourse, judging a film by literal faithfulness to the source novel
Robert Stam strongly critiques 'fidelity discourse,' arguing that it treats the source novel as an unassailable sacred text and views any film adaptation as inherently diminishing or unfaithful. He argues that films should instead be analyzed through the lens of intertextuality, as open dialogic texts that transform, critique, and re-read their precursors. This intervention helped dismantle the traditional hierarchy that placed literature automatically above cinema.
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