Why Emma Bovary had to be killed on screen: From Flaubert to Chabrol via Rancière

This article analyses the way in which the question of adaptation can be raised from the notions of poetics and aesthetics developed by Jacques Rancière in his twofold approach to literature and cinema. Drawing on Rancière's take on Flaubert's Madame Bovary, it questions the inevitability of Emma's death on screen. It looks at the notions of time and reflexivity in order to introduce the concept of the ‘blind spot’, as developed by Paul de Man in relation to literary criticism, as a possible new tool to explore adaptation. It then shows how, in turn, the question of the definition of adaptation as a place of encounter of both the logic of aesthetics and the logic of poetics raises the possibility of deciding not only what to read but how to read.