Al-Ahram Weekly | Opinion | Naguib Mahfouz: Television and literature

		Al-Ahram Weekly Online 2 - 8 August 2001 Issue No.545
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Television and literature
Television serials, which in terms of total length are far more expansive than feature films, are perhaps a better vehicle for the dramatisation of literary works. Events in a literary work may well expand or extend in diverse directions, which can best be accommodated in television productions. In a feature film, the scriptwriter usually selects a single theme and follows it through, sacrificing other incidents in the novel. I am not saying that this happened to me. In fact I watched several television productions of literary works which I thought adopted an incredibly free approach, and not always justifiably so.
Scriptwriters should obtain the approval of the author for any changes in his work. The author may approve of changes, which may serve to clarify certain aspects which need some elaboration in the novel, or he may suggest dropping scenes that could not be effectively shown on television. In other words, modification of the original novel is possible as long as it does not meddle with the substance of the work. But in my experience alterations tend to be imposed for political rather than dramatic considerations in which, as author, I have no say. The censorship is the one to decide, not the writer.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.

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