Phenomenology and the Religious Experience of Film Dissertation
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Address of the Soul: Phenomenology and the Religious Experience of Film Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Carl Edward Laamanen Graduate Program in English The Ohio State University 2019 Dissertation Committee Ryan J. Friedman, Advisor Jared Gardner Isaac Weiner 1 Copyrighted by Carl Edward Laamanen 2019 2 Abstract This dissertation fills a gap in phenomenological approaches to film and creates a framework for religious experience that grounds it in the body, arguing that bodies have religious experiences when they become aware of the deep connections they have with the world and the material realities that run underneath existence. In the viewing experience, film and spectator enter into a relationship with each other, and this relationship shapes religious experience for viewer and film. I argue that religious experience begins with the body and is produced through material relationships between bodies, claiming that film itself, through its relationship with the world and viewer, has religious experiences and, indeed, a soul. To demonstrate this, I interrogate my own spectatorship, considering films and moments in them that have sparked my own cinematic religious experiences—mysterious voice-overs and strange sounds, fractures in the formal and narrative worlds of films, and sequences that prompt new ways of seeing. My experiences come from a wide spectrum of cinematic traditions and time periods, among them contemporary U.S. art house, post-revolution Iranian film, and Pather Panchali, a masterwork of Indian cinema. Through close attention to my own viewing practices and detailed filmic analysis, I advance a spectatorship that sees through the eyes of faith, trusting in film to re-connect us to the material world and open up new possibilities of being in the world. ii Dedication To Mom and Dad & In Loving Memory of Luca Coppa iii Acknowledgments I would never have been able to complete this dissertation or degree without the support of the communities that have come up around me during this process. I am humbled by the millions of conversations, thousands of books, and hundreds of people who have shaped me and this dissertation. I wish I had room to thank you all, but that would require a dissertation in of itself. First and foremost, I have to thank my parents for all their love and support over the years. I am just as surprised as you to find myself here. You taught me to love reading, work hard, and pay attention to the little details, all indispensable elements of completing a dissertation. I could not have done this without you. While my parents taught me to love reading and learning, Luca Coppa taught me to love writing. Luca, I look forward to the day when we meet again in the age to come. I know you’ll have a cigar waiting for me. I have been blessed to have a large number of wonderful teachers and mentors in my time as an undergraduate and graduate student. Collin, Jen, and Kim, thank you for all you taught me at Grove City and for your continued friendship and professional advice since. Allison, Jen, and Scott, thank you for transforming me into an academic and pushing me to follow my passions. For anyone who I took a course with or offered me feedback on my work, I thank you for sharpening my writing and thinking. iv To my dissertation committee, thank you for trusting me enough to let me write this kooky thing. Isaac, you gave me the confidence to write about my own experiences. Jared, your encouragement always came at the moments I needed it most. Ryan, your swift feedback, critical eye, and willingness to help has made this process as painless as it could be. To my Ohio State colleagues, it’s been a long journey and I’m glad to have had you on the road with me. Bethany, your friendship has been vital to my survival the past couple of years in a way I could not have envisioned. Mike and Gregg, I think we just might make it after all. Chris, our conversations have always been productive and I’m so glad our paths crossed. Grandpa’s Cheese Barn, thanks for all the memories and free beer (No I in Denial sucks)...hope you find another football guy. Sidd, it’s been a pleasure to root against the Cavs alongside you, even if you are a Heat fan. I cannot imagine getting through this program with the support of St. Augustine’s Anglican Church and its clergy and parishioners. Fr. Kevin, I swear to make it back for a TNMG, and I thank you for your constant encouragement. Fr. Ric, although I don’t mention the egoic mind here, I think you’ll find I soaked up a lot of the wisdom you’ve dispensed over these five years. The Bowser Home Group, I will miss the dinners and conversation, and maybe even the table questions. Bob and Beth, thank you for taking pity on a poor graduate student and feeding me. Jeff, I’m always up for a game and a brew. Daniel, Lauren, Alex, and Rachel, I miss you guys and am so grateful for the few years we got to spend in the same vicinity. To everyone else, thank you for your prayers, ceaseless encouragement, and support. v Jacob, Jai, Jeff, Jon, Josh, and Matt, thanks for all the Magic. I would have never thought that a few Fridays a month would turn into this kind of friendship. Keep kicking butt at the Guardtower! Shout out to the Omicron Xi class of 2011. Your friendship has been a constant presence since the end of college and I thank you for that. Blake, thanks for the hours of conversation about music and life. I didn’t work the title of our podcast in anywhere, but I hope there is sufficient Percy for you here. Uncle Dave, thank you for your support and love over the years. To my old friends, thanks for staying in touch over several years and many states. Joel and Andrew, it’s certainly been a wild ride, and I’m only a little upset that both of you became doctors before I did. Thanks for the hours of conversation about anything and everything. We’ve got many more ahead of us. Chris, I’m glad we never stopped being nerdy and thanks for watching bad movies with me. Andraya, Diana, and Emily, thank you for introducing me to perspectives and ideas I never would have encountered without you. Mike, Katy, Tim, Robin, DL, and the whole Noes crew, I dread the thought of a New Year without you. Joel and Ben, my CoD and OW squadmates, thanks for the all many hours of necessary distraction. Music is a huge part of my life, and while you’ll notice a few lyrics throughout this dissertation, I wanted to thank some of the artists who I listened to constantly while writing. Thank you to David Bazan/Pedro the Lion, Gang of Youths, Cloud Cult, The Hold Steady, The National, Modest Mouse, and many, many more. vi Vita 2011…..............................B.A. Communication Studies and Spanish, Grove City College 2013………………..........M.A. English, Texas Tech University 2014 to present…………..Dean’s Distinguished University Fellow, Department of English, The Ohio State University Publications ‘“He who kills the body, kills the soul that inhabits it’: Feminist Filmmaking, Religion, and Spiritual Identification in Vision.” Journal of Religion & Film 20.2 (2016). “Preaching in the Darkness: The Night of the Hunter’s Subversion of Patriarchal Christianity and Classical Cinema.” Journal of Religion & Film 18.1 (2014). “What Does God Hear? Terrence Malick, Voice-Over, and The Tree of Life.” Cinephile 8.1 (2012): 15-19. Fields of Study Major Field: English vii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv Vita .................................................................................................................................... vii Introduction. Magical Movies and Childish Ideas .............................................................. 1 Chapter 1. A Phenomenological Approach to the Religious Experience of Film ............ 26 The Film’s Body ........................................................................................................... 33 Digital Cinema and the Film’s Body ............................................................................ 43 Religious Experience .................................................................................................... 55 The Material Soul ......................................................................................................... 66 Immanence and Transcendence .................................................................................... 72 Chapter 2. The Listening Body: Voice, Music, and Sound in Cinematic Religious Experience......................................................................................................................... 91 Voice ............................................................................................................................. 99 Music........................................................................................................................... 122 Sound .......................................................................................................................... 135 Chapter 3. Standing in the Gap: The Écart and the Cinematic Thin Place ....................