On the Origin of Adaptations: Rethinking Fidelity Discourse and „Success”– Biologically

Abstract

Like the early evolutionary theory (though unlike Darwin’s own output), much work in literary adaptation today operates only in terms of higher and lower forms, considering adaptations as more or less „faithful” to the „original”. In biology, it was only when this sort of evaluative discourse was discarded that new questions could be asked and therefore new answers offered. To that end, a biologist and a literary theorist work to develop the homology between biological and cultural adaptation, between natural and cultural selection: stories, in a manner parallel to genes, replicate; adaptations of both evolve with changing environments. Their „success” cannot and should not, in either case, be limited to their degree of „fidelity” to anything called a „source” or „original”.