Abstract/Summary

Pinter’s activity across different media of expression makes his work a productive focus for a study of transmediality, and this article focuses on his formal experimentation in television, radio and cinema as well as theatre. Transmediality denotes the tracing of transfers of the same trope, narrative or motif from one medium to another, and Pinter’s work has been a part of the canon of world theatre since the 1960s, his films contributed to the unique nature of British cinema, and he is often cited as one of the most significant British writers of the post-war period. His significance is demonstrated by the acquisition of his papers for the British Library's Pinter Archive, which, along with papers held at the BBC Written Archives Centre, British Film Institute and Film Finance, for example, comprise much of the often unexplored original archival material used here for tracing Pinter's histories across media.