From page to screen: Adaptation, postcolonialism, and The Garden of Evening Mists

Jasmeet Kaur, Sarabjit Singh (2025) From page to screen: Adaptation, postcolonialism, and The Garden of Evening Mists. Final Year Project, UTAR.

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Abstract

This study explores how colonial memory is translated and reconfigured in the film adaptation of The Garden of Evening Mists, originally a novel by Tan Twan Eng. It examines the significance of adaptation in reshaping postcolonial narratives and addresses the problem of how cinematic reinterpretations may alter the complexity of colonial histories represented in literary texts. While the novel offers a layered engagement with memory, trauma, and imperial legacies in Malaya, the film raises questions of representational fidelity and cultural authenticity. The scope of the study is limited to a comparative analysis of selected narrative elements from the novel and its adaptation. Using adaptation theory and postcolonial theory as its framework, the study employs close reading and comparative analysis to identify what s retained, omitted, and transformed in the adaptation process. The findings suggest that although the film preserves key themes of memory and loss, it condenses interiority and historical nuance, resulting in a more visually driven but simplified portrayal of colonial trauma. This research contributes to adaptation and postcolonial studies by demonstrating how film adaptations can reshape cultural memory and influence interpretations of colonial history.

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