How much can a story change and still retain the essence of its original message? If the medium is the message, as Marshall McLuhan famously declared in 1964, what happens when the medium changes? Furthermore, how do alterations to genre, format, characters, plot, and other aspects of a story affect meaning? In this roundtable discussion, Hollins scholars Rebekah Bruce, Kacey Doran, and Maggie Kimpel Bokelman will examine some film series successes and their links to the world of children’s literature, as well as the effects of the technological revolution on storytelling in general. Rebekah Bruce will investigate whether the increased roles for women result in a loss of mythological authenticity in the The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia film series. Kacey Doran will look at backwards adaptation (films adapted into books) in the Darth Vader and Son (2012), The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (2010), and William Shakespeare’s Star Wars (2013) series. Finally, Maggie Kimpel Bokelman will discuss whether or not electronic media has shaped the messages of the YA novels Dollbones (2013), The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from The Titanic (2011), and The Water Castle (2013). These scholars will classify the adaptations, provide background on the stories, and lead into the discussion with some crucial questions, such as: Is it better to remain as true to the story as possible, or tell one’s own story? What is lost and/or gained through adaptation? Do certain genres or modes of storytelling translate from page to screen better than others? Has media adaptation changed over the past few decades? Ultimately, the role of the discussion leaders is to serve as reference experts and to provide structure for what should prove to be an engaging and lively conversation.
About the presentersKacey Doran
Kacey Doran holds PhD in Childhood Studies from Rutgers-Camden and is the Esports Lecturer at Rowan University. She helped create and develops Rowan’s esports curriculum. She holds an M.A. in Children’s Literature from Hollins University and a B.A. in Women’s and Gender Studies from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Her dissertation focused on alternative perspectives of The Legend of Zelda franchise through feminist humanist and qualitative research methods analyzing videogames, visual and material culture.
Maggie Kimpel Bokelman
Maggie Kimpel Bokelman is the librarian at Eagle View Middle School in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. She is currently a graduate student at Hollins University working on a master’s thesis about the impact of participatory culture on children’s literature.
Rebekah Bruce
Rebekah Bruce graduated with a master’s in Children’s Literature from Hollins University in 2013 and is a current PhD student in The Ohio State University’s Young Adult and Children Literature graduate program. Rebekah’s academic scope includes mythology, fantasy literature, and the portrayal of tomboys in literature.