THE TRANSLATION OF INTERTEXTUALITY IN AUDIOVISUAL TEXTS IN THE LIGHT OF TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI'SBLOW UP, AND JULIO CORTÁZAR'S ‘LAS BABAS DEL DIABLO’

Abstract

This paper analyzes the adaptation of literature to film, taking as a case study the transposition of Cortázar's “Las babas del diablo” to Antonioni's Blow up. Through an intertextual analysis of key sequences, we will focus on two main challenges that arise when studying this type of adaptation from the perspective of intersemiotic translation.

Firstly, it is often assumed that the structural similarities between both works are the direct result of the adaptation. However, this analysis suggests that certain structural elements of the literary text persist in the film, not only due to a successful intersemiotic translation, but because of the logic that governs the determined structure inherent in artistic creation, which often gives rise to common cultural and aesthetic elements. Another challenge arises from the misconception that the analysis of intersemiotic translation can exhaustively encompass all the textual components involved in the adaptation process. However, this complex creative operation, conditioned by both conscious and unconscious elements and by the heterogeneity of artistic language, especially cinema, presents a complexity that demands an interdisciplinary approach.

The analysis of the sequences in Blow up reveals a deep imprint of Cortázar's original story, which manifests itself in a subtle way even in those moments when Antonioni seeks a more personal interpretation. Thus, the surprising similarity between the protagonist of Blow up and the pictorial character, the Angel of Fra Filippo Lippi, mentioned by Cortázar in the story as the visual reference for his character, leads us to hypothesize that Antonioni, when creating his character, was inspired by this painting, consciously or unconsciously. We believe the same occurs with the “white-faced clown” of the literary text that materializes in Blow up in some of the characters played by the mimes.