The Use of Paratexts in Henzell's Movie and Thelwell's Novel "The Harder They Come"

Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, LMU Munich (Department für Anglistik und Amerikanistik), course: Language and Literature in the Caribbean, language: English, abstract: The following seminar paper aims to analyse both works, the movie and the book "The Harder They Come" by asking the question which paratextual elements are used to present the plot. Obviously, a movie can make use of different strategies and methods to create a masterpiece, like a setting and the soundtrack. However, a book has also specific paratextual elements that can support the pure text, like a glossary. The following paper will try to compare both ways.

In order to get an answer at the end of this paper, the first chapter will provide an overview of Genette¿s theory of paratexts. The second chapter briefly summarizes the plot of the story of both works. In the third chapter, the movie and the book shall be analysed regarding the use of paratextual elements to create unity. Due to the limited scope of the seminar paper, only certain selected elements will be analysed.