الفهرس 
Feminist Memoirs and Film AdaptationsOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
In the past, feminist calls for equality between men and women were the main objectives
beyond the development of feminist theory. In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries,
the appeals of feminism have altered to embrace more demands for the agency of women, where
they accept the responsibility of themselves as free human beings, paving the way for the evolution
of the post-feminist era. Thus, this study investigates the relationship between post-feminist
literature and its film adaptation by accentuating the experiences of two women who have
undergone personal growth and transformation. By analyzing the narrative elements of both
memoirs and their film versions, this study emphasizes that the post-feminist approach offers a
different perspective for examining the individual struggles of each woman in contemporary
media.
The first chapter embraces the theoretical framework of this study, which explains the
reasons beyond the emergence of the post-feminist approach and the objective of the women’s
writings and their memoirs. In addition, it addresses the theory of trauma and recovery to explain
the psychological motives of the female protagonists. This chapter also explores adaptation theory
as a means of analyzing the relationship between the two female literary texts and their film
adaptations.
Post-feminism is a multifaceted concept that embraces a broad range of demands. It
highlights the need to appreciate the diversity of women’s experiences and identities and the ways
in which various forms of oppression interconnect. It also calls for a critical examination of popular
culture and media representations of women. Additionally, post-feminism pays greater attention
to women’s empowerment and individuality and the ways in which women can resist gender norms
and patriarchal expectations in the contemporary world.
In the hope of reaching a wide range of recipients, post-feminist women record their
endeavors through diverse forms like autobiographies, biographies, and memoirs. Subsequently,
the post-feminist memoirs have become the means by which their female authors could either
rediscover their identities, reveal their true selves, or prove their recovery from the traumatic
sufferings of their painful experiences in their lives. For this reason, many filmmakers who are
interested in the topics that concern women prefer to present them through their cinematic screens
to allow these women to be seen and heard. Accordingly, for numerous producers, literature, with
its rich resources, is regarded as their main target, on which they could rely to introduce valuable
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cinematic performances. This was the artistic notion that inspired adapting written works for
cinematic screens. For the sake of exploring the relationship between both mediums, numerous
theorists have devoted their efforts to studying the impact of each on the other; among them is
Linda Hutcheon, who is considered one of the prominent theorists whose theory of film adaptation
is used by many critics.
The prime purpose of adaptation theory in literature is to study the transformation of any
literary source into another medium or genre, such as adapting written texts of novels, dramas,
autobiographies, and memoirs into films, songs, stage plays, and video games. Its essence lies in
studying how the original medium is represented after being re-interpreted and recreated into new
means of performing communication. Thus, adaptation theory focuses on exploring the similarities
and differences between the two diverse mediums, using female memoirs and their adaptations as
examples, to introduce a different artistically performed adaptation. Therefore, almost all film
adaptation research has welcomed any alterations made to the original text as long as they serve
to produce an autonomous piece of work that succeeds in grabbing the attention of the audience.
Chapter two analyses the memoir Eat Pray Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything
Across Italy, India, and Indonesia (2006) and its adapted film, Eat Pray Love (2010). Both revolve
around the endeavor of a post-feminist woman in her search for her lost self after being traumatized
by two failed relationships, leaving her in a devastated state of depression and loneliness. As a
woman who respects her individuality, Gilbert knows that it is her own responsibility to carry the
burden of her suffering and try to find the means of healing herself. Therefore, she has thought
that leaving everything behind with its painful past is her only solution for recovery. For her, a
one-year journey to three different destinations has become her hope for restoring what she has
lost. According to her, Italy, with its delicious food and capturing language, symbolizes the
meaning of retrieving her sense of enjoying the pleasure of life. Her second destination is India,
where she has learned in the Indian Ashram how to establish a spiritual connection between her
agonized self and God for the sake of seeking self-reconciliation. Practicing meditation has
allowed her the inner peace that helps her forgive herself and be empowered by a divine source.
Her last target is the Balinese island in Indonesia, where she was taught by an old Balinese guru
how to find a self-balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. Through this
journey, Gilbert intends to heal herself from the trauma of losing the real meaning of her life after
feeling that she has lost a sense of purpose in her life.
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Chapter three tackles the second memoir, Wild: from Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest
Trail (2012), and its film adaptation, Wild (2014). The plot of the two mediums unfolds in the
pursuit of another post-feminist protagonist, who hikes for around 1,100 miles on her own in the
wild desert, starting from California to Washington, facing several challenges following a period
of personal turmoil and loss. The book has been praised for its honesty and lively descriptions of
both the physical and emotional challenges of Strayed’s journey, which has encouraged its
adaptation for the cinematic screen. Experiencing domestic violence in her childhood and the death
of her mother have led her to suffer from significant chronic traumas that have deeply affected her
psychological self. Both the memoir and the film version highlight how the desperate Strayed has
to choose the healthy way of recovery through confronting her past traumas along her solo hiking
of the PCT without any prior experience as her only remaining hope in regaining what she has lost
and healing her distressed self. Both the memoir and its film adaptation illustrate how these
hardships have empowered her to restore her self-respect and recover through finding selfforgiveness.
In conclusion, this dissertation has offered valuable insights into the field of disciplinary
studies as it sheds light on the interweaved connection between both female memoirs and their
film adaptations. Through analyzing these films, this study has highlighted the ways in which
cinematic techniques such as camera movements, editing, and sound can be used to convey the
complex emotions and painful experiences of the two female protagonists. Moreover, it concludes
that, provoked by their post-feminist spirit, both women have succeeded in achieving the purpose
of their journeys of attaining self-healing after rediscovering their inner strength.