From Ibsen to Ray: Transcultural Adaptation and Film Authorship in Ganashatru (An Enemy of the People, 1989)

Abstract

Satyajit Ray’s Ganashatru (An Enemy of the People 1989) marks the first part of the final trilogy, with the subsequent two parts being Shakha Prashaka (Branches of the Tree 1990), and Agantuk (The Stranger 1991). Ray’s last three films are notable for their strong use of language against the prevailing state of corruption and decadence in society. Ganashatru shows how Dr. Ashoke Gupta, a medical practitioner in Chandipur, an imaginary town in West Bengal, fights against the town’s corrupt officials to decontaminate the temple’s holy water, spreading jaundice and other water-borne diseases. Enriching the oeuvre of Ray’s filmic adaptations, Ganashatru is an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s play An Enemy of the People (1882). Since the source text is adapted from another culture, the paper identifies Ganashatru as a “transcultural adaptation,” borrowing the term from Linda Hutcheon. A theoretical analysis of film authorship is presented in this paper. Ray’s three critically important aspects of film authorship
are explored next –his inclination to adapt classic texts, his casting of a familiar set of actors, and the establishing of his protagonist’s resistance to corruption.