Maxwell Anderson’s song lyric ‘Lost in the Stars’ and his Ulyssean adaptation of Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country
Literator
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Maxwell Anderson’s song lyric ‘Lost in the Stars’ and his Ulyssean adaptation of Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country Maxwell Anderson se liedliriek ‘Lost in the Stars’ en sy Ulysseaanse verwerking van Alan Paton se Cry, the Beloved Country | |
| Creator | Viviers, Etienne | |
| Description | This article inspects selected thematic and adaptive links between Alan Paton’s classic South African novel, Cry, the Beloved Country, and its stage adaptation for Broadway by Maxwell Anderson and Kurt Weill, the musical tragedy Lost in the Stars. Particular focus is given to the latter work’s title song ‘Lost in the Stars’, in order to examine a Ulyssean-inspired message contained in its lyrics, which concerns God’s purported abandoning of humankind. To understand this message more fully, an earlier and unrealised collaboration of Anderson’s and Weill’s called Ulysses Africanus is investigated, dormant material of which resurfaced in their eventual adaptation of Paton’s novel. After a discussion of certain intricacies of adapting Cry, the Beloved Country into Lost in the Stars, it is demonstrated that Anderson’s religious worldview was incompatible with that which permeates Cry, the Beloved Country, with the result that Paton was greatly unhappy with Lost in the Stars. Hierdie artikel ondersoek geselekteerde tematiese en adaptiewe verbintenisse tussen Alan Paton se klassieke Suid-Afrikaanse roman, Cry, the Beloved Country, en die verhoogverwerking daarvan vir Broadway deur Maxwell Anderson en Kurt Weill, die musikale tragedie Lost in the Stars. Besondere fokus word verleen aan laasgenoemde werk se titellied ‘Lost in the Stars’, om ’n Ulysseaans-geïnspireerde boodskap in die lirieke daarvan bevat, te ondersoek, betreffend God se vermeende agterlating van die mensdom. Om hierdie boodskap beter te verstaan, word gekyk na ’n vroeër en ongerealiseerde medewerking van Anderson en Weill, genaamd Ulysses Africanus, waarvan dormante materiaal in hulle uiteindelike verwerking van Paton se roman weer na vore gekom het. Ná ’n bespreking van bepaalde verwikkeldhede betrokke by die verwerking van Cry, the Beloved Country na Lost in the Stars, word daar gedemonstreer dat Anderson se religieuse wêreldblik teenstrydig is met dit wat Cry, the Beloved Countryonderlê, met die gevolg dat Paton baie ontevrede met Lost in the Stars was. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2017-09-29 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/lit.v38i1.1406 | |
| Source | Literator; Vol 38, No 1 (2017); 9 pages Literator; Vol 38, No 1 (2017); 9 pages 2219-8237 0258-2279 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1406/2449
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1406/2448
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1406/2450
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1406/2446
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