Ambivalent and Shifting Codes of Fear and Desire In
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AMBIVALENT AND SHIFTING CODES OF FEAR AND DESIRE IN DRACULA MOVIES A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE INSTITUTE OF ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES AND THE DEPARTMENT OF GRAPHIC DESIGN OF BİLKENT UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ART, DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE by Kaya Özkaracalar October, 2004 I certify that I have read this thesis and that in my opininion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ----------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Bülent Özgüç (Principal Advisor) I certify that I have read this thesis and that in my opininion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ----------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Nezih Erdoğan I certify that I have read this thesis and that in my opininion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ----------------------------------- Assist. Prof. Dr. Mahmut Mutman I certify that I have read this thesis and that in my opininion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ----------------------------------- Assist. Prof. Dr. Asuman Suner I certify that I have read this thesis and that in my opininion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ----------------------------------- Assist. Prof. Andreas Treske Approved by the Institute of Fine Arts ----------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Bülent Özgüç, Director of the Institute of Fine Arts ABSTRACT AMBIVALENT AND SHIFTING CODES OF FEAR AND DESIRE IN DRACULA MOVIES Kaya Özkaracalar Ph.D. in A.D.A Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Bülent Özgüç October, 2004 This study, which takes Robin Wood’s methodology to find the answer to the question ‘what does the monster stand for?’ as its base with certain nuances, investigates the ambivalent and shifting sets of connotations embedded in Dracula movies. The main focus is on the sexual and sexuality-related connotations involving fear and desire. A secondary set of connotations related to Otherness attributed to foreign cultures is also investigated. The study aims to delineate the degree and the limits of variance across time and across different cinematic spaces. Keywords: Repression, Other, vampire film, sexuality, fear, desire. iii ÖZET DRACULA FİLMLERİNDE KORKU VE ARZUNUN MUĞLAK VE DEĞİŞKEN KODLARI Kaya Özkaracalar Sanat, Tasarım ve Mimarlık Doktora Programı Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Bülent Özgüç Ekim, 2004 Robin Wood’un ‘canavar neyi temsil ediyor?’ sorusuna cevap bulma yöntemini belli nüanslarla temel alan bu çalışmada Dracula filmlerindeki muğlak ve değişken konotasyonlar incelenmektedir. Esas olarak korku ve arzuyu içeren cinsellik ve cinsellikle ilgili konotasyonlar üzerinde odaklanılmaktadır. Yabancı kültürlere atfedilen Ötekilikle ilgili ikinci bir konotasyon takımı da incelenmektedir. Çalışma, bu konotasyonlarda zaman içinde ve farklı sinemasal sahalarda varyasyonların ölçüsünü ve sınırlarını ortaya çıkarmayı amaçlamaktadır. Anahtar Sözcükler: Baskı, Öteki, vampir filmleri, cinsellik, korku, arzu. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to the members of the committee to review my work-in-progress: My principal advisor Prof. Dr. Bülent Özgüç, Prof. Dr. Nezih Erdoğan, Assist. Prof. Dr. Mahmut Mutman and Assist. Prof. Dr. Asuman Suner. Prof. Erdoğan, who was also my initial advisor in the early phase of the study, had been instrumental in my passage to film studies in the first place. They have all supported me with great patience and tolerance and I hope have not failed their faith in me. Özlem Öz’s moral and logistical support over the years and especially towards the end was beyond measure and I simply cannot thank her enough. Özge Özyılmaz deserves thanks, and credit for the painstaking labor she put in the preparation of the appendix. Last but not least, I also owe thanks to the Geceyarısı Sineması crew: Orhan Anafarta, Sadi Konuralp, Savaş Arslan and Dilek Kaya-Mutlu as well as Giovanni Scognamillo and Pete Tombs for sharing material, ideas –and enthusiasm for the ‘other’ cinema. Those who gaze too long into the Abyss, beware, for the Abyss also gazes back at you. -Nietzsche v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………..iii ÖZET…………………………………………………………………………………………iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………………...v TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………………..vi CHAPTER I: Introduction……………………………………………………………………..1 A. The Purpose of the Study……………………………………………..…………….1 B. General Framework…………………………………………………………………2 1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………….2 2. Robin Wood’s Conceptualization of Otherness in Horror Cinema……………3 3. Franco Moretti’s Conceptualization of the “Dialectic of Fear” with Regards to Dracula…………………………………………………………………………8 4. Ambivalence of the Monster and Return of the Repressed According to Wood and Moretti……………………………………………………………………13 5. Revisiting Wood and Moretti on the Basis of A Critique Questioning the ‘What Does the Monster Stand For’ Outlook………………………………...15 6. A Consideration With Regards to the Framework: Women as Abject…………………………………………………………………………17 7. The Usefulness and the Limitations of Seeing Dracula as an ‘Oriental Other’…………………………………………………………………………19 C. Scope of the Study……..…………………………………………………………..23 vi CHAPTER II: Overview of Vampire from Folk Belief to Literature to Cinema ……………25 A. Introduction………….……………………………………………..……………...25 B. The Vampire up to Dracula……………………………………….………………26 1. Vampire as a Folk Belief……………………………………………………..26 2. Vampire in Literature prior to Dracula.............................................................27 C. Dracula.....................................................................................................................29 1. Introduction.......................................................................................................29 2. Two Different Ways to Approach Dracula......................................................30 a. ‘Critical Biographical’ Approach..................................................................30 b. ‘Cultural Studies’ Approach.........................................................................33 3. The Novel...........................................................................................................36 a. The Plot.........................................................................................................36 b. Characters......................................................................................................39 D. An Historical Overview of Vampire Cinema and Dracula Movies……………….40 1. The Early Classics.............................................................................................41 2. The Crossroads: the British Hammer Studios’ Series……………...................44 3. Revisionist Takes……………………………………………………………..46 CHAPTER III: The Dracula Figure and the Transylvania Setting…………………..……….48 A. Introduction………………………………………………………………………..48 B. Dracula Figure in Major Screen Adaptations…………………………………...…49 1. Dracula in Hollywood’s First Adaptation…………………………………….49 2. Dracula in Hammer Studio’s Series…………………………………………..56 vii a. Hammer’s 1957 Adaptation………………………………………………..56 b. Hammer’s Sequels…………………………………………………………60 3. Dracula in Hollywood’s 1979 Adaptation………………………………………64 4. Dracula in Coppola’s Adaptation………………………….................................68 B. The Transylvania Setting…………………………………………………………..71 1. Transylvania as ‘the East’…………………………………………………….71 2. Dichotomies between the West and Transylvania……………………………73 3. The Depictions of the Castle………………………………………………….74 CHAPTER IV: The Female Figures …………………………………………………………76 A. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..76 B. Dracula’s Transylvanian Brides ……………………………………………………..77 C. Dracula’s Western Female Victims..............................................................................82 1. Detour For Elaboration with Regard to the Source Novel........................................82 2. Female Protagonists in Dracula Adaptations ……………………………………..84 C. The ‘Other’ Female Vampire Movies ………………………………………………...94 CHAPTER IV: Conclusion………………………………………………………………….105 APPENDIX.............................................................................................................................110 REFERENCES........................................................................................................................116 viii I. Introduction A. The Purpose of the Study This thesis will entail comparative analyses of Dracula movies with a view to studying the ambivalent and shifting sets of connotations embedded in them. To put it briefly, Dracula will be studied as a figure embodying Otherness. The main focus will be on the sexual and sexuality-related connotations involving the dialectical relation between fear and desire. Furthermore, it will be investigated if this main axis along sexuality is co-existent with another but secondary axis of Otherness attributed to foreign cultures, partially remiscent of the attributes of the Oriental Other, and, if so, to what degree and in which ways these two axes overlap and reinforce (or, theoretically at least, contradict) each other. The analyses will be in-depth on the one hand to see the ambivalence in each case (each movie studied) and comparative on the other hand to see if and how this ambivalence varies from case to case over time and across different cinematic spaces,