Abstracts
Abstract
The return of Taliban rule in Afghanistan has renewed interest in The Breadwinner, the story of Parvana, an eleven-year-old girl who passes as a boy to provide for her family after the Taliban abducts her father. Set in Kabul on the cusp of 9/11, the celebrated children’s novel (2000), written by Deborah Ellis, found great success in Nora Twomey’s animated adaptation (2017), which was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 90th Academy Awards. Using animation conventions to build on the cultural sensitivity and accuracy present in the book, the film addresses global concerns arising after the novel’s publication. Although critics have lauded the film as feminist, the adaptation excises Ellis’s focus on Afghan women’s activism and replaces this community with characters who are men. These added characters provide a stronger narrative structure than the novel and successfully humanize Taliban members; however, this is at the expense of representing women’s communal action. As a result, Afghan women are portrayed as isolated and helpless; this representation contradicts the film’s pacifist messages by implying that western military intervention is necessary. Due to its prevalence in curricula, the film is in danger of perpetuating the myth that an individual alone can alter their circumstances rather than recognizing that the feminist collective is necessary for widespread and sustained change. I argue that the representation of activist groups already present in Kabul that Ellis’s texts gestures to are erased by the animated adaptation’s focus on male characters.
Keywords:
- Adaptation studies,
- Afghanistan,
- Feminism,
- Taliban,
- Animation,
- The Breadwinner
Résumé
Le retour du régime Taliban en Afghanistan a renouvelé l'intérêt pour The Breadwinner, l'histoire de Parvana, une jeune fille de onze ans qui prétend être un garçon pour subvenir aux besoins de sa famille, après que les Talibans aient enlevé son père. Se déroulant à Kaboul, à l'aube du 11 septembre, le célèbre roman pour enfants (2000), écrit par Deborah Ellis, a connu un grand succès dans l'adaptation animée de Nora Twomey (2017), qui a été nominée pour le meilleur long métrage d'animation à la 90e cérémonie des Oscars. En utilisant des conventions d'animation pour s'appuyer sur la sensibilité culturelle et l'exactitude présentes dans le livre, le film répond aux préoccupations globales qui sont survenus après la publication du roman. Malgré que les critiques aient acclamé le film comme étant féministe, l'adaptation omet le but d’Ellis, qui est de se focaliser sur l'activisme des femmes Afghanes, en remplaçant la communauté féminine par des personnages masculins. Ces personnages ajoutés fournissent une structure narrative plus forte que le roman et humanisent avec succès les membres du régime Talibans. Cependant, cela se fait au détriment de la représentation de l'action communautaire des femmes. Par conséquent, les femmes Afghanes sont représentées comme isolées et impuissantes ; cette représentation contredit donc les messages pacifistes du film, suggérant qu'une intervention militaire occidentale serait nécessaire. Ce film est tant imprégné dans les programmes scolaires, qu’il risque de perpétuer le mythe selon lequel un individu seul peut modifier sa situation plutôt que de reconnaître que le collectif féministe est nécessaire pour un changement durable et à grande échelle. En fin de compte, j’argumente que l’adaptation animée de Breadwinner, par sa focalisation sur les personnages masculins, ne reflète pas la représentation des groupes activistes déjà présents à Kaboul, vers laquelle le roman d’Ellis est dirigé.
Mots-clés :
- Etudes de l'adaptation,
- Afghanistan,
- féminisme,
- Taliban,
- animation,
- The Breadwinner
Appendices
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