“The Incompatible Tape:” Exploring the Limits of Adaptation in 13 Reasons Why

Abstract

This research explores the ways in which a novel can experience a reevaluation as a result of it receiving a television adaptation that results in its textual and contextual elements being reexamined. Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why and its Netflix adaptation written by Brian Yorkey serve as the case study for this research, with the two works and their contextual material such as the novel’s paratexts and adaptation’s online resources being the primary materials examined. I argue that since the premiere of Yorkey’s series, the novel has experienced a reevaluation that demonstrates the limitations of translating certain narrative techniques from a novel to a television series and how the novel laid the groundwork for the therapeutic experience the show sets out to create for viewers. I examine the contextual elements of the novel and its adaptation to understand how the novel’s efforts to create a community and therapeutic experience for its readers was used by the Netflix series for its own efforts to promote prosocial behavior and the formation of community among its viewers. I also explore the changes made in the Netflix series and how the novel’s epistolary narration was altered to accommodate the narrative standards of a television series.