Analysis of three novels as representative models of Kenyan Literature’s suitability for filmic adaptation

Abstract

In the multi-media creative space, a close relationship exists between literature and film. Writers and film creators employ their unique skills to make their audience visualize: the former mentally, the latter through audio-visual senses. The distinction between the two media types lies in the perception of the visual image and concept of the mental image, which informs the adaptation of prose fiction, particularly novels. Global and regional level film producers adapt literary works into film, yet in the Kenyan context, a creative disconnect exists between literary works and their film adaptations. Generationally popular Kenyan literary texts are deficiently adapted into Kenyan film. The study evaluated three novels, namely The River and The Source, Striving for the Wind and Dust as representative models of Kenyan Literature’s suitability for adaptation. It was guided by the Reader Response Theory, Intertextuality and Adaptation Theory. In view of the qualitative and quantitative nature of the study, a mixed methods research design was employed. The study drew its primary data from Jicho Four Productions’ adaptations of Ogola’s The River and the Source, close reading of Ogola’s The River and the Source, Mwangi’s Striving for the Wind, and Owour’s Dust, alongside semi-structured interviews of fourteen persons purposively sampled from across literature and film industries, utilizing mixed questionnaires. The study finds that Kenyan Literature and Kenyan Film as solid creative pillars exist individually, without a bridge to substantitively link them and their audiences. This research is significant as it gives insights to the barriers to adaptations of Kenyan Literature into film, untapped potential of adaptations, internal and external standard-based yardsticks influencing adaptations, and provides a structured outline of stumbling blocks and potential remedies to enable film adaptations of Kenyan Literature to be at par with regional and global counterparts.