When telling stories is showing other worlds: from speech to the audiovisual world on Bernardo Govea's adaptations

Abstract

This article explores the adaptations of children's literature tales by Bernardo Govea, a Mexican writer, screenwriter, and film director. Drawing on contributions from various theorists on oral tradition, fictionalization, intertextuality, and reader experience, the analysis focuses on the strategies and resources employed by Govea in his adaptations. It demonstrates how Govea blends oral storytelling, theater, and cinema to recreate versions of original tales, respecting their cores while modifying their forms and contexts. Through elements such as humor, music, audience interaction, makeup, pantomime, and staging, Govea enhances the reader's experience by bringing the strange and distant closer.