Bahram Tavakoli’s the Stranger as a transcultural movie adaptation of Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire

Abstract

The purpose of the present article is to study Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) and its movie adaptation, The Stranger (2014), directed by the Iranian director Bahram Tavakoli, in the light of adaptation theory particularly Linda Hutcheon’s theory of adaptation elaborated in her book titled A Theory of Adaptation (2013). In adapting a literary work for the big screen, certain adjustments are necessary due to the fundamental differences between these two mediums. In this reading of A Streetcar Named Desire and its movie adaptation, The Stranger, the central questions are: What changes did Tavakoli make to Williams’s play regarding indigenization? What purpose do these adjustments serve? To answer these questions, the present study offers an in-depth analysis of the play and its movie adaptation to find the differences and similarities in sociocultural and political contexts according to Hutcheon’s notions of indigenization and dehistoricization. This study shows that the process of transcultural adaptation results in inherent modifications to the adapted work. The Stranger has experienced changes in its setting, locations, musical elements, characters, and their names while also eliminating certain elements unsuitable for the target audience. Tavakoli has demonstrated the ability to adapt the material to suit his audience through modifications and omissions. However, he has been unable to preserve all the underlying ideas inherent in the original play.

Keywords

• Movie adaptation
• indigenization
• dehistoricization
• critical distance
• transculturation
• American Studies