Critical Theory and Jean-Luc Godard's Philosophy of the Image

THE GIFI' RECIPROCATED: CRITICAL THEORY AND JEAN-LUC GODARD'S PHILOSOPHY OF THE IMAGE GLEN W. NORTON A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Graduate Programme in Film and Video York University Toronto, Ontario October 1999 National Library Bibliothèque nationale 1+1 ,,nada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaON K1AON4 Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Canada Canada Your lFk, Votre rëfëmca Our file Notre rtifdrenca The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence dowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microfoxm, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/- de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. The Gift Reciprocated: Critical Theory and Jean-Luc Godard's Philosophy of the Image Glen Norton a thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of York University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts O 1999 Permission has been granted to the LIBRARY OF YORK UNIVERSITY to lend or sel1 copies of this thesis. to the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA to microfilm this thesis and to lend or seII copies of the film, and to UNIVERSITY MlCROflLMS to publish an abstract of this thesis. The author reserves other publication rights. and neither the thesis nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's written permission, ABSTRACT The thesis attempts a re-evaiuation of some of Jean-Luc Godard's lesser-known work, Erom Ici et ailleurs to his latest For Ever Mozart. The thesis avoids interpretation and instead aligns Godard with the major practitioner of what has corne to be known as 'Fiction-Theory", namely Jean Baudrillard. Using Baudrillard's notion of seduction as a theoreticai template, the thesis asserts that Godard's films eschew any notion of what Baudrillard calls "productiveness", and as such they aiways remain outside any shared notion of "meaning" or "vaIue7'. Thus the films becorne their own theoretical basis for existence, provoking contemporary film theory with their seductive indifference. Contents Introduction Chapter One: From Dialectics, Toward Memory Ici et ailleurs: Seeing In-Between Comment ça va?: Un-writing tbe Image The Sound of Ideology NdroDeux Beginning to Remember Cinematic Memory/Cinematic History Chapter Two: Decomposing Namative Decornposition of the Sign The Word as Narrative Law Transcendence In or Transcendence of Narrative? Return to the Beginning Narrative Economy Chapter Three: Seducing the Viewer Boredom and Pleasure Cognitive Boredom Cognitive Pleasure in Identification lnfusing Boredom wi th Pleasure Vacuity and Jouissance Chapter Four: The G@ Reciprocated Chailenging Essentiaikm Surrealist Play Psychoanalyticml Misreadings of Play The Poetic Conclusion Notes Bibliography Introduction There is a space between criticd subjectivity and its object of inquiry, reserved not only for critics but for filmmakers as well. It is the space where words and images meet, where subjective speculation wrestles with objective fact. What follows will concern itself not only with the space between the films of Jean-Luc Godard and critical attempts at navigating them, but the holiowing out of this very same space, due in no small part to the rigorous work of the films themselves. Once, when we thought we understood them, this space was Wed to capacity with books, essays, critiques, seminars, reviews. Now, as Godard's work slips merand Merfiom a cohesiveness it barely had to begin with, this space is emptying out. This thesis means to fill it up again, joining in the game of criticism not to end it but to challenge it to continue, not by expounding upon facts but by provoking what xnay hopefully becorne a cyclical and continuous challenge. 1 wabe the first to admit that Godard's films of late have been hard to comprehend even at the best of times. Their lack of narrative structure and outright contempt of rational meaning could be relegated to nothing more than a defiant and indifferent mess. At least the old Godard, even when his films seemed hard to understand, had something to drive them: the films of the sixties overturned conventions; the Dziga Vertov period had Manrist dogma to fall back upon. The films after this period seem only to work against themselves, driving, if anywhere, to ward the nothingness of their own indifference. The task of this thesis, then, is to see if there is something to these films beyond indifference -- not necessariiy to understand what this something is, only to mark that this something is there. Rather than interpret' these films, then, it seems more important to work them through what remains a steadfast base of critical enquiry. Perhaps it is this establishment which remains indifferent, for, to accept these fihfor what they are, critical theory must stretch to meet them at their own level, These films challenge us to interpret them, but perhaps, in the end, there really is nothing there, Save a stnictured and profound inmerence -- and besides, if found, this indifference would be too fiagile to withstand interpretive strength. Of course, indifference may be but one element in Godard's overd strategy of image creation. 1 contain my examination, then, to films made subsequent to 1972, after Tout va bien, Letter to Jane and the dissolution of the Dziga Vertov Group. 1 do not, however, work through these films in chronologicd fashion because, for the rnost part, one does not see them like this today -- perhaps, in his head, Godard did not even make them this way. There is no Linear progression to Godard's film.c; one must treat them the way one would treat the works of a philosopher (and why not? Like a philosopher's, Godard's work is a process of thought and enquiry leading to self-awareness), as works asking essentialIy the same question over and over again, never satisfied with their own answers, never having answers but only more questions. As such, his work cm be understood both as a whole (a body) and as individual films, scenes, shots, sounds, sentiments. My methodology, therefore, incorporates both. The films will not be analysed one at a tirne, nor in their entirety, but only where and in amounts deemed appropriate; images or ideas from one film or Nms may flow into another or into many. 1 do not try to force every film to "mean" something, nor should each £ïlmfall into some logical auteurist paradigm of symbolic or formulait device. And because 1 wodd spare Godard the aggravation of having to live up to his own reputation with each and cvery nIm, 1also do not touch upon everything he has done in this period. What this thesis does not purport to do is persuade its reader by any formal, logical argument. This may seem unusual and even unsuit able for an academic thesis, and 1 have no doubt some will condemn the finished product on the bais of some assumed lack of schokly responsibility. While untraditional, 1hold steadfast to the belief that the best response to the enigmatic nature of Godard's nIms is not interpretive proof, but one that dows for an engaging yet still illusive understanding of cinema. This thesis, then, attempts to understand images in the same manner as the l7.h~themselves do, utilising a highly speculative, metaphoric discourse. While this may nin the risk of having its playful assertions dismissed as unfounded, 1 find myself unable to write about Godard's cinema in any other way. What is most important to note about Godard's work (and hopefûlly about the present thesis as well) is its sense of play, its invocation of what Jean-François Lyotard would cda unique and "paganTTdiscourse? At his best, Godard bestows upon us the ironic validity of his own work; yet, as each fiIm falls back on the ideas of the last, working them over and over again, we see that, wbile they may speak to each other, they have as of yet little to show to us about the rational world. Of course, the artist can afford the luxury of not having to produce rational truth-effects, but can the same be said about critical theory? This is the crucial question to be worked through this thesis, and it cm only be answered at its end. The playful and dialogical nature of what is to follow, then, tells more about the nature of critical and theoreticai writing than it does about Godard's films. In a way, the films cease to become objects of enquiry per se and instead become catalysts for discussion on the nature of this enquiry. However, what cmbe said about critical theory at the outset is that it, of course, comprises its own language game. It must not, however, take control of the object, imposing a top-dom discourse and thus disrnantling any charm the object might hold; instead, the value of theory lies in its attempt to enter into a relationship with the language of the object, to honour it by playing by its rules, as one would with a beloved game.

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