From Puppet to Cyborg: Posthuman and Postmodern Retellings of the Pinocchio Myth
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FROM PUPPET TO CYBORG: POSTHUMAN AND POSTMODERN RETELLINGS OF THE PINOCCHIO MYTH By Georgia Panteli Thesis submitted to University College London for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy CENTRE FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY & INTERCULTURAL INQUIRY (CMII), SCHOOL OF EUROPEAN LANGUAGES, CULTURE & SOCIETY (SELCS) UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON 1 Declaration of Authorship I, [Georgia Panteli] confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 2 Abstract The myth of Pinocchio is the story of a puppet that desires to become human and achieves it with the power of his will. Created by Carlo Collodi in The Adventures of Pinocchio, the myth of Pinocchio is linked to the fairy tale tradition and is the most recent manifestation of the animate/inanimate archetype. This thesis is the first systematic study of the Pinocchio myth and examines how it has been used and reinterpreted in different retellings across different media and disciplines. The first part of this study focuses on Pinocchio retellings in film and shows that the most contemporary example of the Pinocchio myth is in the story of the sentient cyborg/robot that desires humanity. Moving from the classic in the field of cyborg studies Blade Runner through Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence, which directly links the robot to Pinocchio, to the least technophobic and most transhumanist Battlestar Galactica, Chapter 1 demonstrates how all case studies are connected to Collodi’s novel through the confrontation scene, a specific passage in the text which touches upon the core of the Pinocchio myth, as Pinocchio is confronted both by the Blue Fairy and his corporeality. Chapter 2 examines Robert Coover’s Pinocchio in Venice and Jerome Charyn’s Pinocchio’s Nose, two metafictional novels that deconstruct the myth of Pinocchio by challenging each of its components. Pinocchio’s posthumanity is a reversal of the original story, as both protagonists turn from flesh to wood. Moreover, this analysis focuses on the role of the Blue Fairy in instigating Pinocchio’s desire for humanity and on the role of writing and authorship in both texts. Chapter 3 analyses Pinocchio retellings that combine posthumanism with postmodernism. Winshluss’s Pinocchio and Ausonia’s Pinocchio focus on the malfunctioning conscience of Pinocchio. Both graphic novels deconstruct the Pinocchio myth visually and conceptually. The desire for humanity, 3 central to the myth of Pinocchio, is missing from both texts, suggesting an alternative reading of the original text and exposing the ways the myth has been used to perpetuate consumerist values. 4 This thesis is dedicated to all the dreamers, changemakers and fighters whose only weapon is their art. 5 Table of contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................... 6 List of illustrations ............................................................................................. 9 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 11 A. Theoretical background, structure and aims of thesis ............................. 12 B. Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio .......................................... 18 C. From Tuscany to Disney: an overview .................................................... 22 D. Fairy tales and Pinocchio ........................................................................ 30 E. The Pinocchio myth ................................................................................. 33 Introduction Appendix ..................................................................................... 41 Chapter 1. Film: Posthuman retellings of the Pinocchio myth ......................... 46 A. Theoretical background ........................................................................... 46 1. Science fiction ...................................................................................... 46 2. The animate/inanimate archetype ........................................................ 49 3. Posthumanism ...................................................................................... 56 4. The confrontation scene ....................................................................... 60 B. Blade Runner .......................................................................................... 65 C. A.I. Artificial Intelligence .......................................................................... 75 D. Battlestar Galactica ................................................................................. 88 E. Possible futures ....................................................................................... 97 Chapter 2. Metafiction: Postmodern retellings of the Pinocchio myth ........... 121 A. Writing, mythopsychosis and the theory of I-ness ................................. 124 B. Humanity – from flesh to wood .............................................................. 139 C. The Blue Fairy and Pinocchio’s misplaced nose ................................... 143 Chapter 3. Graphic Novel: Posthuman and postmodern retellings of the Pinocchio myth .............................................................................................. 169 A. The visual dimension of challenging the Pinocchio myth ...................... 171 B. Retellings of Paese dei Balocchi — Funland ......................................... 195 C. The role of the cricket - conscience....................................................... 201 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 234 Bibliography .................................................................................................. 239 6 Acknowledgements This thesis has been the most intellectually challenging project I have undertaken, but also the richest experience in reading and examining Literature critically. I am very grateful to have been able to do this in the intellectually stimulating environment of University College London and in particular in the School of Languages, Culture and Society. First of all I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr Florian Mussgnug and Dr Katia Pizzi, for the ongoing support, encouragement and insightful supervision of this thesis. Many thanks also to Prof Theo Hermans and Prof Timothy Mathews for the friendly advice throughout my studies at UCL. I also want to thank Els Braeken and Lia Kahn-Zajtmann for their kindness and support. I am grateful to all members of staff and PhD peers at UCL with whom I had discussions that helped me to develop my research and in particular Prof Michael Berkowitz, Dr Dorota Goluch, Dr Lior Libman, Marlies Prinzl, Dr Tsila Ratner, Belinda É. Samari and Prof Sacha Stern. Special thanks to Dr Eleanor Chiari, Dr Catherine Keen and Laura Mason for the valuable support during the final stages of my PhD. I also want to thank all colleagues at the Department of Hebrew & Jewish Studies, and in the Italian and the Dutch Departments for the moral support. I would like to thank Prof Robert Coover for the fascinating conversations that helped me better understand his work for the purpose of this thesis. I owe many thanks to all my friends and in particular Andromachi Katsarou, Christina Lazoura, Margarita Nazou and Lila Pavlerou for the ongoing love and support throughout the years. I also want to thank my neighbours and friends Kyoko Yanagawa, Max Edwards, Jennifer Tomomitsu, Leah Rasmussen, Kenwyn House and their cat Tao-Tao for all the inspiring and relaxing time we have spent together. 7 My love for literature has been almost instinctive since I was a child and I am grateful that I had great teachers and mentors to nourish and nurture this love. To those I owe great thanks, for they are the beacons that shone in my life: Konstantina Griva, my first English teacher, Evangelia Malliarou, my teacher of literature at secondary school, who not only taught us how to read the great Homeric epics but also the Modern Greek classics. Georgia Aleiferi at the Classical High School of Anavryta initiated me in the pleasures of depth text analysis by studying Sophocles’ Antigone and Oedipus Rex. I was lucky to study English Literature in the rich academic environment of the University of Athens. Out of all members of staff I owe special thanks to Dr Christina Dokou, who has been a friend and mentor throughout the years and the first to instil in me the love for Comparative Literature. My exposure to music has contributed greatly to my comparative approach and for this I owe special thanks to my choir conductor at the Athens National Conservatory, Spyros Klapsis, as well as to my piano teacher, Igor Taraschansky, who opened up new ways for my appreciation of music and art. Above all I owe great thanks to my parents, Stratos and Maria Panteli, for encouraging me to follow my dreams and for supporting me throughout, both emotionally and financially. Moreover, my mother’s artistic nature and my father’s storytelling skills triggered my imagination, unlocked my creativity and cultivated very early on my appreciation and love for storytelling. I am ever so grateful to my sister, Alexandra Panteli, for her love and belief in me, which has given me immense power to deal with difficulties. Last but not least, I would like to thank my partner, Dr Gerald Kössl, for his continuous support and for sharing this challenging and rewarding experience with me.