Adaptations of classic literature

One of the books I read this semester was an adaptation of a classic novel: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo. Not only is this “modern retelling of Little Women” rendered in a graphic-novel format (Terciero & Indigo, 2019, front-cover matter), but it also updates the March family from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women to be a mixed-race and blended family circa 2015-2017.

I enjoyed the adaptation and appreciated that while it included many pivotal episodes from Alcott’s original, it offers more autonomy for the March sisters, especially for Meg (who, in the update, breaks up with her suitor to pursue a career in law) and for Jo, whom Alcott’s publishers insisted had to marry somebody (Grady, 2019). But Terciero & Indigo instead give Jo a plotline in which she comes out to her family as gay and becomes a published writer.

I plan to read other graphic-novel adaptations of works of classic literature. In a 2016 Publishers Weekly advertorial (a disclaimer at the top of the page indicates that the piece was sponsored by Udon Entertainment), Monnin (p. 39) posited that “the future of reading for all ages and all abilities is both textual and visual.”

Monnin proclaimed graphic novels to be “the most approachable modern textual platform for today’s readers” and — not surprisingly, given its role of sponsor — credited Udon with providing “the absolute best adaptations of canonical authors and their stories” (2016, p. 39).

One approach I appreciate is that of Classical Comics, which released “full-color detailed adaptations of classic works in three language versions: Original Text, Plain Text, and Quick Text aimed at different reading levels” (Price, 2009, p. 29). All three editions used the same artwork so, in the words of Clive Bryant, managing director of Classical Comics, everyone, regardless of reading level, could “go through the same book together and contribute to class discussions on the text” (Price, 2009, p. 29).

I hope, however, that these textual distinctions are not glaringly evident to onlookers. Our reading this past week underscored a young reader’s concern “that others would make assumptions about her because of the reading level (based on the school’s assessment) to which she was assigned in class reading” (Bang-Jensen, 2010, p. 173).

References:
Bang-Jensen, V. (2010). A children’s choice program: Insights into book selection, social relationships, and reader identity. Language Arts, 87(30) 169-179.

Grady, C. (2019). The power of Greta Gerwig’s Little Women is that it doesn’t pretend its marriages are romantic. Vox. https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/12/27/21037870/little-women-greta-gerwig-ending-jo-laurie-amy-bhaer

Monnin, K. (2016). Manga brings new life to classic literature. Publishers Weekly, 263(34), 39.

Price, A. (2009). New books from old: Turning classics into comics. Publishers Weekly, 256(51), 27–29.

Terciero, R. & Indigo, B. (2019). Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Little, Brown and Company.