Radio drama as art and industry: A case study on the textual and institutional entanglements of the radio play The Slow Motion Film

Abstract

This article argues that in order to obtain a deeper comprehension of the radio play as a work of art, one should complement the dominant method of textual analysis with industry analysis. This argument is illustrated by means of a case study on the 1967 Belgian radio play The Slow Motion Film. This radio play is an adaptation (in fact, a re-adaptation as there had been radio adaptations in 1940 and 1950) of the innovative theatre play The Slow Motion Film (1922) by Herman Teirlinck. In order to explain the creative choices of the radio play, which are largely based on the pursuit of fidelity to the source work, the institutional aspect is of great importance. The goal of honouring Teirlinck and highlighting the cultural-historical importance of his work fitted within the broader cultural-educational mandate of the public broadcaster, which prevented a more inventive adaptation. This article argues that in order to gain a better understanding of the radio play as a text, the industrial context also needs to be studied. Furthermore, this article contributes to the largely unwritten history of the radio play in the Low Countries.