Introduction

This collection seeks to explore what authenticity means in the context of adaptation, whether there is such a thing as an authentic adaptation, and what authenticity can offer for adaptation. It does so through four specific sections, each thinking through related questions raised by the theme. By outlining theoretical approaches to authenticity, querying authorship’s relationship to adaptation, the role of medium, and the place or value of the audience, this collection brings together a holistic perspective of authenticity that will intervene in the contemporary debates within adaptation. Authenticity’s increasing importance in the zeitgeist filters through to adaptation, yet it is something that has not been explicitly debated or discussed within the field. As such, this collection both highlights and attempts to fill a gap in scholarship.