Multimodal Adaptations of Baš-Čelik: From a Fairy Tale to a Comic and Illustrated Book

Abstract

Employing the theoretical framework that represents a unique amalgam of the domains of multimodality, intermediality, transmedia storytelling and adaptation, the paper analyses the process of medial transposition of the folk fairy tale Baš-Čelik, primarily into Đorđe Lobačev’s comic book of the same name (1939/1989), and then into Petar Meseldžija’s 2008 illustrated book The Legend of Baš-Čelik (orig. Legenda o Baš-Čeliku). The paper presents verbal and graphic tools used by these authors in adapting the original text from a monomodal into multimodal media, with a special focus on three research directions. The first is the manner in which the compositional structure of the fairy tale is transferred into the comic and the illustrated book, with the aim of assessing the level of fidelity in these adaptations. The second direction is related to the most important narrative and stylistic differences (e.g., language and tone of narration). The third direction deals with the use of certain comics-specific techniques and resources, such as page layout, use of colour for emphasis, representation of speed and motion, and the presence or absence of particular graphic devices (upfixes and pictorial runes). Finally, the adaptations themselves are compared to each other, highlighting the major similarities and differences between them.