Tuning fork of the philosophy of culture: the history of film adaptations of E.M. Remarque's novel "All Quiet on the Western Front"

Introduction. The relevance of the study is due to the need to discuss the problem of translating world literature classics into thelanguage of cinema and of the related problem of distinguishing between the concepts of “screen adaptation”, “film based on”, “and director’s version of aclassic text”. Thearticle examines three screen versions of E. M. Remarque’s novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1929): “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1930, directed by Lewis Milestone, USA); “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1979, directed by Delbert Mann, USA); “All Quiet on the Western Front” (2022, directed by Edward Berger, Germany). Objectives of the study: to find out how legitimate it is to call theabove films screen adaptations Materials and Methods. The material of the study was E. M. Remarque's novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” and its three screen incarnations. The research methodology is mainly reflection in the paradigm of phenomenology of intermediality. Theauthor uses integrativeand systemic-cultural approaches, historical-situational principle (which allows analyzing the peculiarities of the cultural environment of modern film production), methods of comparative-historical and cultural-historical analysis. Result and Discussion. The greatest sympathy of the public was aroused by thelatest “screen adaptation” of E. M. Remarque's novel, which is as far removed from the source material as possible in comparison with the previous ones. This leads to certain conclusions of philosophical and aesthetic (about the fate of realism in art), axiological, ethical, as well as socio-pedagogical nature: the expressionist worldview of the beginning of thelast century naturally loses its relevance in the 1970s; the millennium, when postmodern thinking takes us further and further away from historical truth, replaces psychologism with action, the rich inner life of heroes with external events in the paradigm of the thriller. Theauthor is concerned about the tendency of the present generation to familiarize itself with real historical events (which became the root cause of the ethics and aesthetics of the “lost generation”) through the prism of “comprehension of the comprehended”, i.e. through the prism of modern directors' vision of aliterary work reflecting the spiritual culture of the “lost generation”. Discussion and Conclusion. Thearticle contributes to the study of the problem of intermediality, in particular, the translation of literary works into thelanguage of cinema, as well as the influence of various versions of the “screen adaptation” of classics on public consciousness. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of using its results in developing special courses for students studying world artistic culture.

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Publication Details

Journal
Russian Journal of Bakhtin Studies
Published
2025-06-24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.15507/2658-5480.07.202501.016-026
Primary Topic
Shakespeare, Adaptation, and Literary Criticism
Type
article
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article

Tuning fork of the philosophy of culture: the history of film adaptations of E.M. Remarque's novel "All Quiet on the Western Front"

E.A. Radaeva
Russian Journal of Bakhtin Studies
Shakespeare, Adaptation, and Literary Criticism
article

Tuning fork of the philosophy of culture: the history of film adaptations of E.M. Remarque's novel "All Quiet on the Western Front"

E.A. Radaeva
article en

Abstract

Introduction. The relevance of the study is due to the need to discuss the problem of translating world literature classics into thelanguage of cinema and of the related problem of distinguishing between the concepts of “screen adaptation”, “film based on”, “and director’s version of aclassic text”. Thearticle examines three screen versions of E. M. Remarque’s novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1929): “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1930, directed by Lewis Milestone, USA); “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1979, directed by Delbert Mann, USA); “All Quiet on the Western Front” (2022, directed by Edward Berger, Germany). Objectives of the study: to find out how legitimate it is to call theabove films screen adaptations Materials and Methods. The material of the study was E. M. Remarque's novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” and its three screen incarnations. The research methodology is mainly reflection in the paradigm of phenomenology of intermediality. Theauthor uses integrativeand systemic-cultural approaches, historical-situational principle (which allows analyzing the peculiarities of the cultural environment of modern film production), methods of comparative-historical and cultural-historical analysis. Result and Discussion. The greatest sympathy of the public was aroused by thelatest “screen adaptation” of E. M. Remarque's novel, which is as far removed from the source material as possible in comparison with the previous ones. This leads to certain conclusions of philosophical and aesthetic (about the fate of realism in art), axiological, ethical, as well as socio-pedagogical nature: the expressionist worldview of the beginning of thelast century naturally loses its relevance in the 1970s; the millennium, when postmodern thinking takes us further and further away from historical truth, replaces psychologism with action, the rich inner life of heroes with external events in the paradigm of the thriller. Theauthor is concerned about the tendency of the present generation to familiarize itself with real historical events (which became the root cause of the ethics and aesthetics of the “lost generation”) through the prism of “comprehension of the comprehended”, i.e. through the prism of modern directors' vision of aliterary work reflecting the spiritual culture of the “lost generation”. Discussion and Conclusion. Thearticle contributes to the study of the problem of intermediality, in particular, the translation of literary works into thelanguage of cinema, as well as the influence of various versions of the “screen adaptation” of classics on public consciousness. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of using its results in developing special courses for students studying world artistic culture.

Russian Journal of Bakhtin StudiesVol. 7(1)
Samara State University of Social Sciences and Education (RU)
Openalex Percentile: Top 85%
Shakespeare, Adaptation, and Literary Criticism
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