Kristina och Kristina : En komparativ analys av persongestaltningen i Vilhelm Mobergs Utvandrarserie och musikalen Kristina från Duvemåla

Sammanfattning:

Since 1995 the musical Kristina från Duvemåla has been performed on many national theatre stages in Sweden and is still obtaining success and fame. It is based on novels by the famous Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg, Utvandrarna (1949), Invandrarna (1952), Nybyggarna (1956) and Sista brevet till Sverige (1959) that revolve around a Swedish family emigrating to the United Stated during the 19^th century. This thesis investigates both the novels and the musical adaptation in a comparative way. Theory of adaptation and intermediality is used to analyse differences and similiarities of the stories used in the novels and the musical. It can be assumed that major changes were implemented in the adaptation of the main characters, specifically Kristina. According to that a shift in importance and variations in characteristics of the main characters appeared in the musical. Since the musical is named after the character Kristina who is moreover the key figure in the overall scenic performances, it leads to the conclusion that there exist major shifts in importance of content structures. For the analysis, individually chosen scenes are investigated in comparison with the novel contents as well as certain musical songs and dialogues. It can be ascertained that Kristina’s role in the musical has changed significantly in comparison to the novels by Vilhelm Moberg. The results do make contributions to the applied analysis of media adaptations in literary studies and musicology and might state an example for further analysis of adaptations.