Hi Ronald (and Jill again),
Thanks very much Ronald for your message. Yes, you’re absolutely correct: Claudia Sternberg was probably the first in our field to mention possible applications of Pfister’s theory (although as you correctly pointed out, it wasn’t very specific).
Actually, as I mentioned in my previous notes (and in my presentation at the Brussels Conference) I attempted to apply Pfister’s theory of verbal communication to the analysis of specific screenplays (and in most cases, their stage equivalents). Fro example, I argue that the six functions—initially identified by Pfister just for stage plays—can equally applied to analyze dialogues and other elements of verbal communication in screenplays. So similar to your dissertation, I’ve been trying to explore structural similarities between the stage and screen plays.
Ronald, I very much welcome your idea of collaborating on further research in this area. In that regard, I may point out that besides verbal communication—which of course constitutes the biggest point of convergence between those two dramatic forms and certainly deserves even more attention—there might be other structural elements worth exploring in that kind of collaborative research. Among them, for example, the ways story is transformed into a plot (or plots); characters’ development; the issues related to time and space in both stage-and screen plays; the ways to develop suspense, possibly through dialogue, but also other means of dramatic communication; etc. etc.
I’m very curious to hear what you think would be the most promising direction for such collaborative research in those, and perhaps other areas of structural analysis.
Best,
Sam
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