An Overview of a PhD Thesis for The School of English. Advisors: Prof. Sanders & Dr. Harrison PhD Student: Jason M. Ward (jsnwrd@icloud.com)

Most DHL Films Are Adaptations of Short Stories Adaptations of Lawrence’s short stories account for 30 of the 55 films of the author’s life and work, yet most criticism of DHL on film focuses on the feature-length films of the novels. My focus on the short adaptations of the tales reveals seven ‘lost’ Lawrence adaptations, which have yet to be recognized for what they add to the discourse surrounding Lawrence. There is No Singular Text to Be Faithful To Since variant texts of Lawrence’s writings have been published, there has been a need to move the critical discourse on Lawrence beyond the notion of fidelity to a singular text. My approach instead emphasise how each film adaptation functions as a creative response that foregrounds the significance of the fluid text, the reader, transtextuality and genre. Considering Lawrence’s short stories in such a fashion, and through the lens of these neglected films, provides a fresh, forward-looking, and original approach to Lawrence studies that reflects both the critical reception of the author’s work and recent developments in adaptation theory.

‘The Rocking-Horse Winner’ is a Genre Bender The genres of film noir, horror, the heritage film, melodrama and the art film have all been deployed to bring this tale to the screen illustrating the centrality of genre in film adaptation.

Short Film Adaptations Are Hard to Come By The case study chapters provide close readings of ‘Odour of Chrysanthemums’, ‘The Horse-Dealer’s Daughter’ and ‘The Rocking-Horse Winner’, through seven adaptations of these works. These films represent a sample of diverse periods, genres and approaches and range from the eldest to the newest films of Lawrence’s work. Most have never been released and were painstakingly sought out over a period of six years from three directors, a screenwriter, an educational supplier and an American college library. Adaptation Is Criticism Each text, whether film or prose, is a navigation of possibilities, influenced by factors such as intermediality and genre in both its composition and reception. My approach considers what each filmic reading says about the changing perception of the text or author over time. It accepts change as part of the adaptation process and considers what this creative alteration conveys as a mode of criticism. By acknowledging the role of the reader, responding to the text as a fluid entity, and reconceptualising adaptation as an evolutionary process, rather than as a product to be judged, it is possible to challenge critical discourse rooted in the retrospective models of fidelity, intentionality and value-judgements and chart an exciting new direction, forward. ‘The Horse-Dealer’s Daughter’ is a Western The 1983 short film relocates the story to the Old West, which re-aligns it with the western genre raising questions about the significance of iconography, space and venue in film adaptation.

Newer Films Seek Dialogue Not Fidelity An adaptation-based approach to Lawrence provides a unique glimpse into the creative processes at work in and around each of the short stories. An adaptation is not just about Lawrence but also about our evolving understanding of what his work means to us, and what better way to see this than through the immediacy and intimacy of personal films made by dozens of his current readers. Recent improvements in commercially-available digital film technology enable more readers to register their readings of Lawrence in the form of films, so that the filmmaker will shortly become indistinguishable from the reader in a literal (as well as a metaphorical) sense.

‘Odour of Chrysanthemums’ is a Palimpsest The 2002 short film is an adaptation of a story that exists in seven incarnations. Like a palimpsest, the film shows edifying traces of previous versions of the tale and demonstrates the fluidity of the text and its multiple connections to Lawrence’s other works and biography.

Unconstrained by big-studio concerns of fidelity or conventions of realism, short film adaptations of Lawrence have become digital, cheaper, shorter, and seek dialogue rather than fidelity.