Adaptation might be seen as a special case of intertextuality or intermediality, which involves the practice of transcoding (changing the code or 'language' used in a medium) as well as the assimilation of a work of art to other cultural, linguistic, semiotic, aesthetic or other norms.
Prior to Romantic notions of originality, copying classic authors was seen as a key aesthetic practice in Western culture.
Convinced, amazed, he checks the bold design, And rules as strict his labored work confine As if the Stagirite o'erlooked each line.
"[3] According to Pope in An Essay on Criticism, the task of a writer was to vary existing ideas: "What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed;".
[citation needed] In the 19th century, many European nations sought to re-discover and adapt medieval narratives that might be harnessed to various kinds of nationalist causes.