Riscrandament

Riscrandament is a neologism used in contemporary literary and media studies to describe the deliberate reworking of a narrative text by altering certain formal aspects while preserving the core events or setting. Proponents treat it as a method for exploring how narrative form shapes meaning, audience reception, and interpretation. The term is not universally recognized as a formal theory; it appears in a range of online essays and discussions in Italian- and English-language scholarship since the early 2010s, often in relation to adaptation, retelling, and fan-fiction practices.

Etymology and scope are not standardized. The word resembles Italian roots such as riscrivere (to rewrite) and other Romance-language formations, with the English noun-forming suffix -ment shaping riscrandament. Some writers emphasize that riscrandament differs from a straightforward retelling by foregrounding changes in perspective, narrative tempo, focalization, or voice while keeping events and setting comparatively intact. In practice, it can include reimagined chapters, alternate viewpoints, shifted chronology, or transmedial transpositions (for example, adapting a text into screenplay or game form) that preserve the core drama or world.

Applications and relevance are mostly found in literary pedagogy, adaptation studies, translation studies, and intertextual analysis. It serves as a framework for examining how form and medium influence interpretation, as well as for teaching students to distinguish between mere summary and deliberate formal reconfiguration.

Criticism centers on its vagueness relative to established terms like adaptation or reinterpretation, potential ambiguities in authorship and intent, and the risk of conflating creative practice with theoretical rigidity. See also: adaptation, retelling, reinterpretation, fan fiction, narrative viewpoint, focalization.