ABSTRACT
Adaptations of the novels of Emile Zola are habitually approached as imperfect reproductions of a superior textual original Zola's novel is implicitly positioned as a potent original text whose lustre cannot be captured by adapting hands — even if those hands belong to Zola himself. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book has attempted to suggest the sheer breadth of adaptations which Zola's work has triggered, it is not the intention of the current book to detail and encompass this range such an attempt would run to several volumes. The reasons for early French cinema's interest in Zola's texts specifically are open to debate. A variety of responses have been suggested. The central aim is to reconsider the critical framework according to which cinematic adaptations of Zola's texts are most often assessed in a work that spans a variety of directors, eras and films.
