School of Culture and Communication - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 2 of 2
-
ItemBecoming worthy of the event: Left Bank trauma cinema, 1945-1962( 2012)Asking the question, ‘How can we articulate the conditions that make possible the catastrophic event without referring to any form of identity?’ this thesis considers the trauma cinema of three Rive Gauche filmmakers: Georges Franju, Chris Marker and Alain Resnais. The argument of the thesis is predicated on taking up and insisting upon the explosive and disorganising power of the traumatic event, made manifest in Le Sang des bêtes (Franju, 1949), Les Yeux sans visage (Franju, 1959), Les Statues meurent aussi (Marker and Resnais, 1953) and Muriel, ou le temps d’un retour (Resnais, 1963). The Lazarean characters that haunt these films bear witness to a radical temporal and ontological ‘ungrounding’; an ‘ungrounding’ that shatters identity and characterises catastrophe. This thesis argues that it is only in commencing with the difference that announces itself in the dissolution of identity and permanence that we can hope to create an adequate theorisation of the traumatic event. The transcendental empiricism of Gilles Deleuze provides the kernel for an in-depth analysis of catastrophe that presents an alternative to ‘deconstructive trauma studies,’ the dominant trauma paradigm within the humanities. The thesis returns to the epoch in which this methodology has its roots, the period between the end of the Second World War and the end of the Algerian War of Independence (1945-1962). It takes leave, however, from deconstructive trauma studies’ attempts to tether the traumatic event to systems of identity. Working within a Deleuzian paradigm, the thesis examines transcendental structure alongside empirical manifestation: virtual ‘becomings’ alongside actual history. Deleuze’s concepts of ‘difference-in-itself,’ ‘repetition-for-itself’ and ‘the event’ are drawn upon and extended into the field of trauma studies. The conditions of true genesis for the actual traumatic event, it is argued, are to be discovered not in identity, but in the incorporeal events and self-differentiating differences that emerge from the transcendental field of the virtual. During the event of catastrophe, these imperceptible forces inscribe themselves - via intensity or pure difference - in the flesh. The traumatic event illuminates in calamity the eruption of Deleuze’s ultimate form of repetition, which repeats only a force of pure difference. Through an intersection of Rive Gauche trauma cinema and Deleuzian philosophy, this thesis seeks to consider the differential changes that ground catastrophe, thus deepening our comprehension of the traumatic event and ethical responses to such occurrences.
-
ItemTerrorising the imagination: moral pornography and sadomasochistic aesthetic in contemporary literature( 2012)The thesis provides a close textual analysis of two American novels – A Recent Martyr (1987) by Valerie Martin and Two Girls, Fat and Thin (1991) by Mary Gaitskill. Using Angela Carter’s definition of ‘moral pornography’, I critically examine each author’s depiction of sadomasochism, and especially their use of what can be described as an overarching sadomasochistic aesthetic. One of the main aims of this thesis is to build on Carter’s definition in light of recent debates on pornography. I will show what ‘moral pornography’ looks like and what form it takes in contemporary literature through the novels of writers I believe are subverting the power dynamics that influence sexual activity. An important hinge to the argument is the historical connection between religion and capitalism that manifests in sadomasochistic behaviour, an idea that is explored through the work of Jessica Benjamin and Lynn Chancer. The texts will also be discussed in relation to the debates on pornography that were taking place when each was written and the current debates on the same topic that have surfaced in the last decade. This thesis will counter anti-pornography criticism and instead investigate the ways literature is a subversive medium to explore and challenge the problematic equation of power and sexuality. This occurs through specific narrative techniques that allow for the shifting identifications of the reader, allowing them to pass through many different subject positions, as well as the ability to reassess their position towards such roles. Ultimately, the thesis argues that sadomasochism, in particular, the representation of female masochism should not always be viewed as degrading or regressive nor be relegated to good or bad categories. This is because, as an aesthetic strategy, sadomasochism has the potential to explore the complex power relations that exist at the very heart of society.