Jason Ward
The University of Nottingham, UK
The Endings of Odour of Chrysanthemums
Lawrence completely rewrote the ending of "Odour of Chrysanthemums" three times, extensively revised the prose throughout, and tackled the story's main event in half a dozen other texts. This work is perceived as a deeply biographical work and widely believed to mark the flowering of a distinctly Lawrentinian style. Is there any other way to read this story?
The presenter will provide an overview of the critical reception to the three main versions of "Odour of Chrysanthemums" and then will discuss how contemporary adaptation theory, the lens of film and film studies might open up new channels into this 'hypertext'.
It will be suggested that the pragmatic non-judgemental intertextuality of adaptation might offer ways to re-evaluate Lawrence not only in terms of what he did but how he did, and what this continues to do.
The presenter will suggest that adaptations can also bring out and highlight phenomena that may otherwise go unnoticed. To illustrate, the much-reworked ending of the story will be viewed through the lens of Mark Partridge's recent filmic adaptation, and the presenter will discuss how palimpsestic traces from earlier texts seem to resurface in this adaptation of the 1914 version.