The relationship between books and film has been one of the key topics of cinema studies. Much of this criticism, however, has been inherited from eighteenth-century debates on poetry and painting and thus has fostered false and limiting paradigms in which words and pictures are opposed. Rethinking the Novel/Film Debate historicizes and critiques the central paradigms of this debate. Testing theory against practice, and uncovering the hidden agendas, Kamilla Elliot creates alternative critical models that can be applied to the novel/film issue in an effort to transform the field for future inquiry. In the process, she mounts a major critique of novel theory and film history and theory, demonstrating how rivalries have shaped and falsified each discipline when considered separately.