Cultural context in screenwriters’ adaptation of plots: Localisation, cultural code and international collaborations

The aim of the study was to identify the mechanisms of intercultural adaptation of screenplay texts and analyse the transformations of dramaturgical elements, when transferring the narrative between cultural contexts. The methods used by authors to work with cultural “rupture” were examined, in particular, the Korean adaptation of the American series “The Good Wife” was analysed, which demonstrated a radical change in the motivation of the main character: her return to profession was not driven by self-fulfilment, but by the restoration of family honour, which led to a rethinking of the entire dramaturgical structure. The Japanese film “Departures”, dedicated to the work of preparing bodies for burial, lost its effectiveness in the Western context due to a change in the cultural assessment of the profession: the relevant code could not be translated. An analysis of adaptations of the Scandinavian detective series “Forbrydelsen” for a British audience (the series “The Killing”) showed that “acceleration” was achieved not through editing techniques, but by modifying the mechanisms of tension: long pauses were replaced by shorter ones, compensated for by intonation, glances and musical accompaniment. The Pakistani-Indian series “Zindagi Gulzar Hai” revealed different perceptions of conflict even in neighbouring cultures: behaviour that was acceptable in the culture of one country will seem unnatural in another. The semantics of colours also became culturally conditioned: the colour red in the Chinese film “Raise the Red Lantern” was associated with celebration, while Western viewers interpreted it as a signal of alarm. The adaptation of the Colombian telenovela “Yo soy Betty, la Fea” for the American market as the series “Ugly Betty” demonstrated the need to reduce the emotional intensity of the narrative to ensure cultural acceptability in an English-speaking environment. The symbols had no universal equivalents and required a search for adequate analogues or preservation at the risk of misunderstanding. A change in the motivation of one character necessitated a review of the entire structural organisation of the text, as the cultural code functioned as an integrated system. The author’s practice did not allow for the mechanical removal of “incomprehensible” elements and the insertion of “comprehensible” ones without a chain of consequences. The practical significance of the study lies in identifying the components of the narrative that are related to culture and are subject to transformation, as opposed to those that remain unchanged, since the result of this is a mechanistic copy without emotional impact