Transforming the Literary Text: Vladimir Nabokov’s Novel Zaščita Lužina Adapted in Marleen Gorris’ Film The Luzhin Defense

Abstract

One usually speaks of adaptations in connection with screen versions of literary works. A novel or other work is adapted to a different art form—cinema. As a rule, a literary text requires reduction in terms of plot or characters; in addition, film-specific techniques such as music, visual effects, editing, etc., are applied. In The Luzhin Defence by Dutch director Marleen Gorris, however, there are more changes than can be explained by the mere transfer of literary material to another art form. This article presents a theoretical approach to describing different types of screen adaptations, allowing us to define Gorris’s film as a transformation and to explain the essence of the changes made to the action, character system, and chronotope in comparison to the novel. As a result, the film appears to be the novel’s “otherworld.”