This book offers a consistent, theoretically grounded, accessible account of adaptation across a range of instances, employing Relevance Theory as its explanatory framework and arguing that every adaptation is an independent communicative act. The author establishes the principles of the study in the first part, introducing and contextualising the theory developed by Sperber and Wilson, before going on in the second part to demonstrate the strength of the approach, and its relevance and utility within adaptation studies and beyond through a wide array of examples. The volume will open up discussion in areas previously underserved by adaptation studies and consider broader implications, such as where we draw the line when we think about 'adaptation'. This book will be of interest to students and scholars in a range of fields including adaptation studies, relevance theory, linguistic pragmatics, stylistics, narratology, intertextuality, literature and film studies.