Introduction: Adaptation as a Process
Adaptation is not merely a secondary copy, but above all a dynamic creative process. According to Linda Hutcheon’s theory, this phenomenon should be understood as "repetition without replication," which engages both the creator and the audience in an active dialogue with the original. In the era of new media, adaptation ceases to be a simple translation of plot, becoming instead a laboratory of contemporary culture. In this article, you will learn how modes of engagement, economic motivations, and digital technologies are redefining the way we retell familiar stories.
Profit and Homage: Economic and Aesthetic Motivations of Creators
The process of adaptation is driven by multilayered motivations. At the market level, economic logic dominates: turning to established brands helps mitigate financial risk in the capital-intensive film industry. However, adaptation is also an act of interpretation—it can be a tribute, a way to rescue content from oblivion, or a critical deconstruction of the original.
A key element of reception is the palimpsestic nature of adaptation. An audience familiar with the source material experiences the work as an overlay of new meanings upon their memory of the original. What Hutcheon calls "double vision" creates a tension between recognizing familiar motifs and discovering their new realizations, which accounts for the specific satisfaction derived from engaging with an adaptation.
Telling, Showing, Interacting: Modes of Reception and Immersion
Hutcheon distinguishes three fundamental modes of engagement. The telling mode (literature) engages the imagination, allowing for deep insight into the internal states of characters. The showing mode (film, theater) focuses on direct sensory perception and an externally controlled rhythm. In contrast, the interacting mode (video games) redefines the relationship with the work, granting the audience agency and the possibility of physical action.
These typologies correlate with Marie-Laure Ryan’s concept of immersion, which categorizes immersion into temporal, spatial, and emotional dimensions. In digital culture, worldbuilding becomes crucial—constructing a coherent universe that, in game adaptations, often becomes more important than the plot itself, allowing the player to autonomously explore the represented world.
Transmediality and the Prosumer: The Future of Adaptation
The meaning of a work is inevitably redefined by the context of time and place. Through the process of indigenization, foreign cultural patterns are rooted in local realities, giving them new political and social significance. Today, adaptation is evolving toward transmediality, where a story is dispersed across multiple platforms, each making a unique contribution to the construction of the world.
In this ecosystem, the prosumer plays a key role—an active fan who not only consumes but also co-creates the narrative. Phenomena such as sweding (amateur remakes) demonstrate the democratization of cinema and force the evolution of copyright law. Brand owners are increasingly moving away from restrictions toward incorporating fan creations into official circulation, recognizing their potential for viral promotion.
Summary: Adaptation as a Dynamic Playing Field
Contemporary adaptation is no longer a mirror passively reflecting the original, but rather a dynamic field of cultural play in which content constantly circulates and mutates. On one hand, it strengthens the position of major brands and transmedia universes; on the other, it becomes a tool for grassroots creativity. In this view, adaptation transforms previously passive audiences into active co-creators, and the work itself becomes a living, collectively shaped organism that constantly acquires new meanings in a changing world.
📄 Full analysis available in PDF