From literature to film, from film to series

Abstract

In light of Irina Rajewsky’s intermedia concepts of transposition (adaptation of literary text or word art to audiovisual text or visual art) and reference (a work whose reference to another work is reflected in its structure) (2012), our purpose is to present some aspects of literary, filmic and television narratives, from Robert Bloch’s novel Psycho, originally published in 1959 (1961), to Hitchcock’s film adaptation (1960), to Bates Motel (2013-2017) TV show, produced by A&E. Our remarks show how the intermedia/intersemiotic transit was built, its interference with some narrative elements, and its contribution to the story. We adopted a psychoanalytic interpretation based on Lacan, which allows us to discuss some elements of the three pieces. We also examine some aspects related to psychoanalysis that can be productive for new readings.