Abridgement
Encyclopedia
Abridgement or abridgment is a term defined as "shortening" or "condensing" and is most commonly used in reference to the act of reducing a written work, typically a book, into a shorter form. The abridgement can be true to the original work in terms of mood and tone, capturing the parts the abridging author perceives to be most important, or it could be a complete parody
of the original.
A written work may be abridged to make it more accessible to a wider audience; for example, to make an adaptation of it as an audio book
or a television show, to make a more convenient companion to an already established work, or to create a shorter reference version.
Some party, usually an editor for the book's publishing company, will go through the text of the book and remove elements, notations, references, narratives, and sometimes entire scenes from a book that could be considered superfluous to the actual story or focus of the book in order to make its audible reading time shorter. A fully abridged audio book can span as little as 4 hours for a book that would span 20 hours unabridged.
The easiest content of a fiction book to edit out is back story often provided for characters or story elements that help support the reality of the story for the reader, but do not provide any narrative to the story itself. For example, a passage such as "John sped away in his automobile, a red 1967 Mustang he'd purchased from a junkyard and spent most of his college years restoring with his father" could be abridged to "John sped away in his automobile, a red 1967 Mustang" or even "John sped away in his car."
In a nonfiction piece, the most commonly abridged details are references, charts, details, and facts that are used to support an author's claim. While it would be unprofessional or irresponsible to omit such details from a book, it is understandable for an audio book as it is assumed the listener wants to hear the author's opinion, and if he/she needs to check the details he/she may refer to the text.
Occasionally, an abridged audio book will be advertised as "Abridgement approved by the author," which would imply that the original work's author has reviewed the trimmed down version of his/her work and agrees that the intention or narrative of his story has not been lost, or that no vital information has been removed.
In many cases, an audio book for a popular title is available in both an abridged and unabridged version, though the abridged version often is released first and almost always costs significantly less than the unabridged version. Often, the two versions are produced independently of each other and may have different narrators. Unabridged versions of books are popular among those with poor eyesight or reading skills who wish to appreciate the entirety of the work, while the abridged version is more often preferred by those who just want to follow the story in a quick and entertaining way.
On the radio (for example, in British Radio 4
programmes as Book of the Week
, Book at Bedtime
, Afternoon Reading, and Go 4 It
for children), books are almost always abridged. Because of this, if someone were trying to read along with the book, one would find it much harder than on an audio book.
While increasingly uncommon, some books are published as abridged versions of earlier books. This is most common in textbooks, usually lengthy works in complicated fields like engineering
or medicine
. Abridged versions of popular textbooks are published to be used as study
aids or to provide enough surface information for the reader to become familiar with the material but not have a full understanding of it or its full scope.
Sometimes lengthy textbooks are abridged down to a dictionary
version, where detailed or explanatory information is removed and only a list of key words from the book and their definitions remain, making the book a companion concordance
to the original work.
It is uncommon for abridged versions of fiction books for adults to be published for sale, but it has been done, as with a recent new translation of War and Peace
.
from the 1950s until about 1970). With the advent of such non-commercially sponsored PBS anthologies such as Great Performances
, Live from Lincoln Center
and the BBC Television Shakespeare
plays, there is now less pressure to cram a three-hour-plus play like Hamlet
into a two-hour time slot.
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of the original.
A written work may be abridged to make it more accessible to a wider audience; for example, to make an adaptation of it as an audio book
Audio book
An audiobook or audio book is a recording of a text being read. It is not necessarily an exact audio version of a book or magazine.Spoken audio has been available in schools and public libraries and to a lesser extent in music shops since the 1930s. Many spoken word albums were made prior to the...
or a television show, to make a more convenient companion to an already established work, or to create a shorter reference version.
Abridgement for audio
Abridgement is most often used to adapt a book into a narrated audio version. Because books written for adults are generally meant to be read silently to oneself (which is usually much faster than reading aloud), most books can take between 20 and 40 hours to read aloud. Because many audio book consumers are looking to more quickly consume the information of a book, and because of the high cost associated with recording and distributing 40 hours of audio, audio book versions of novels are often produced in an abridged version.Some party, usually an editor for the book's publishing company, will go through the text of the book and remove elements, notations, references, narratives, and sometimes entire scenes from a book that could be considered superfluous to the actual story or focus of the book in order to make its audible reading time shorter. A fully abridged audio book can span as little as 4 hours for a book that would span 20 hours unabridged.
The easiest content of a fiction book to edit out is back story often provided for characters or story elements that help support the reality of the story for the reader, but do not provide any narrative to the story itself. For example, a passage such as "John sped away in his automobile, a red 1967 Mustang he'd purchased from a junkyard and spent most of his college years restoring with his father" could be abridged to "John sped away in his automobile, a red 1967 Mustang" or even "John sped away in his car."
In a nonfiction piece, the most commonly abridged details are references, charts, details, and facts that are used to support an author's claim. While it would be unprofessional or irresponsible to omit such details from a book, it is understandable for an audio book as it is assumed the listener wants to hear the author's opinion, and if he/she needs to check the details he/she may refer to the text.
Occasionally, an abridged audio book will be advertised as "Abridgement approved by the author," which would imply that the original work's author has reviewed the trimmed down version of his/her work and agrees that the intention or narrative of his story has not been lost, or that no vital information has been removed.
In many cases, an audio book for a popular title is available in both an abridged and unabridged version, though the abridged version often is released first and almost always costs significantly less than the unabridged version. Often, the two versions are produced independently of each other and may have different narrators. Unabridged versions of books are popular among those with poor eyesight or reading skills who wish to appreciate the entirety of the work, while the abridged version is more often preferred by those who just want to follow the story in a quick and entertaining way.
On the radio (for example, in British Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
programmes as Book of the Week
Book of the Week
Book of the Week is a BBC Radio 4 series broadcast daily on week days. Each week the selected book, always a non-fiction work, is read in five episodes; each fifteen-minute episode is broadcast in the morning and repeated overnight . The Act of Worship replaces the morning broadcast on...
, Book at Bedtime
Book at Bedtime
Book at Bedtime is a long-running radio programme on BBC Radio 4, broadcast each weekday evening at 10.45–11.00 pm.Book at Bedtime offers fiction including modern classics, new works by leading writers and literature from around the world. Books are usually abridged and serialised each evening for...
, Afternoon Reading, and Go 4 It
Go 4 It
Go4it was a children's magazine programme broadcast on Sunday evenings at 7.15pm on BBC Radio 4, and one of the few speech-based shows on British national radio aimed at younger listeners....
for children), books are almost always abridged. Because of this, if someone were trying to read along with the book, one would find it much harder than on an audio book.
Abridgement for print
A shortened form of literary work, in which the major themes of the original are kept. Books are abridged for faster and easier reading. The Signet Classics Abridged Works are notable examples of abridgment; the Signet Classics Bible, for example, is 40 percent shorter than the 850,000-word King James Version. Although well-known passages in abridged works are often left intact, editors may remove "repetition, rhetoric and redundancy" from a complete work.While increasingly uncommon, some books are published as abridged versions of earlier books. This is most common in textbooks, usually lengthy works in complicated fields like engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
or medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
. Abridged versions of popular textbooks are published to be used as study
Study Skills
Study skills or study strategies are approaches applied to learning. They are generally critical to success in school, are considered essential for acquiring good grades, and are useful for learning throughout one's life....
aids or to provide enough surface information for the reader to become familiar with the material but not have a full understanding of it or its full scope.
Sometimes lengthy textbooks are abridged down to a dictionary
Dictionary
A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically, with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon...
version, where detailed or explanatory information is removed and only a list of key words from the book and their definitions remain, making the book a companion concordance
Concordance (publishing)
A concordance is an alphabetical list of the principal words used in a book or body of work, with their immediate contexts. Because of the time and difficulty and expense involved in creating a concordance in the pre-computer era, only works of special importance, such as the Vedas, Bible, Qur'an...
to the original work.
It is uncommon for abridged versions of fiction books for adults to be published for sale, but it has been done, as with a recent new translation of War and Peace
War and Peace
War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1869. The work is epic in scale and is regarded as one of the most important works of world literature...
.
Abridgement for television
Very often plays, notably Shakespeare's, have been heavily abridged for television, in order to fit them into ninety-minute or two-hour time slots. (The same is true of long classical ballets such as the two-and-a-half hour The Sleeping Beauty, which has almost never been performed complete on television). This was done more often in the past than it is now (e.g. Hallmark Hall of FameHallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
from the 1950s until about 1970). With the advent of such non-commercially sponsored PBS anthologies such as Great Performances
Great Performances
Great Performances, a television series devoted to the performing arts, has been telecast on Public Broadcasting Service public television since 1972...
, Live from Lincoln Center
Live from Lincoln Center
Live From Lincoln Center is an ongoing series of musical performances produced by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in conjunction with Thirteen/WNET in New York City....
and the BBC Television Shakespeare
BBC Television Shakespeare
The BBC Television Shakespeare was a set of television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, produced by the BBC between 1978 and 1985.-Origins:...
plays, there is now less pressure to cram a three-hour-plus play like Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
into a two-hour time slot.