Between Self and Other: Abjection and Unheimlichkeit in the Films of David Lynch
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Between Self and Other: Abjection and Unheimlichkeit in the Films of David Lynch Adam Daniel Jones Submission for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Modern Languages Newcastle University July, 2011 Citations: Jones, A.D. (2011). Between Self and Other: Abjection and Unheimlichkeit in the Films of David Lynch. Ph.D. Thesis. Newcastle University: U.K. Between Self and Other: Abjection and Unheimlichkeit in the Films of David Lynch Abstract This thesis re-evaluates David Lynch’s films and their critical reception, with particular reference to psychological models employed in the context of ‘Lynchian’ themes such as identity, the self, the maternal, doubling and ambiguity. In repositioning readings and arguing for a new approach, I identify the flaws in the critical reception and, proceeding from the contention that the reception of the films suggests complex and specific psychological responses, explore possible origins with reference to two principal and associated theories. The five films selected as subjects are Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive. The uncanny, or more specifically, Unheimlichkeit (as described by Jensch, Rank, Freud et al) is encapsulated as ‘something which ought to have remained hidden but has come to light’ and encompasses a cluster of associations, e.g. doubles and doppelgangers, repression, ambiguous humanity, madness, amputation, the womb and the domestic. Distinct but closely related, the abject (as described by Kristeva), describes visual and physical elements associated with the uncanny but is often less nuanced and more extreme, engendering revulsion, loathing, and ultimately a jouissance epitomised by the act of self effacement or the destruction of the self that often concludes an inevitable, heightening and terminal process of uncanniness. I argue that the symbiotic relationship between the uncanny and abject (the concepts coexist and each is implicated in the action of the other) pervades Lynch’s films and test the hypothesis that the balance between them shifts throughout the course of his career, identifying a trajectory characterised by an early predominance of visually disturbing abjects through to a more pronounced and complex preoccupation with the uncanny in the later films. I will relate this exploration of the relationship between the uncanny and abject to questions of reception, examining how it problematises readings. [i] Between Self and Other: Abjection and Unheimlichkeit in the Films of David Lynch Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Weird – Abjection, Uncanniness and Doubling .................................. 14 Lynchian Weirdness ................................................................................................... 15 The Uncanny .............................................................................................................. 18 Intellectual Uncertainty ............................................................................................. 23 The Definite Ambiguity of the Uncanny .................................................................... 26 Ontological Splitting .................................................................................................. 27 Physical and Mental Doubles .................................................................................... 30 The Visuality of the Uncanny ..................................................................................... 33 The Abject .................................................................................................................. 36 Narrative Theory ........................................................................................................ 41 Narrative Splitting ...................................................................................................... 44 Chapter 3: Eraserhead ....................................................................................... 46 Reception ................................................................................................................... 46 Abomination .............................................................................................................. 51 Contamination ........................................................................................................... 53 The Monstrous Baby .................................................................................................. 54 Eraserhead as Horror Film ......................................................................................... 58 Domestic Uncanniness .............................................................................................. 64 Doubly Uncanny ........................................................................................................ 69 The Visuality of the Double and the Abject ............................................................... 72 Narcissism and Thanatophobia ................................................................................. 76 Disintegrating Bodies ................................................................................................. 78 Chapter 4: Blue Velvet ....................................................................................... 86 Reception ................................................................................................................... 86 Oedipus ...................................................................................................................... 92 [ii] Between Self and Other: Abjection and Unheimlichkeit in the Films of David Lynch The Abject Female Body ............................................................................................ 93 The Sandman ............................................................................................................. 94 Dreams and Abjects ................................................................................................... 96 Body Parts .................................................................................................................. 98 Blue Velvet ............................................................................................................... 100 Pre-Oedipal Qualification ........................................................................................ 102 Possession of the Gaze ............................................................................................ 103 Primal Fantasy ......................................................................................................... 105 A Journey of Masculinity ......................................................................................... 107 Chapter 5: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me ....................................................... 111 Reception ................................................................................................................. 111 The Misperception of the ‘Late Prequel’ ................................................................. 114 Observing Uncanniness ........................................................................................... 117 Uncanniness and Domesticity in the Soap Opera ................................................... 120 Impossible Spaces .................................................................................................... 122 The North American Suburb .................................................................................... 123 Doppelgangers and Other Doubles ......................................................................... 127 Unclean Hands and Dead Bodies ............................................................................. 133 Incest ....................................................................................................................... 138 Chapter 6: Lost Highway .................................................................................. 142 Reception ................................................................................................................. 142 The Mediated Abject ............................................................................................... 145 The Real and the Symbolic ...................................................................................... 146 Mystery Man and Mystery Space ............................................................................ 149 Uncanniness of Genre ............................................................................................. 151 Uncanniness of Narrative Form ............................................................................... 157 Uncanniness of Sound, Vision and Performance .................................................... 165 Chapter 7: Mulholland Drive ............................................................................ 170 Reception ................................................................................................................. 170 [iii] Between Self and Other: Abjection and Unheimlichkeit in the Films of David Lynch Methodology and ‘Anti-Intellectualism’.................................................................. 173 Critical Attitudes to Narrative.................................................................................. 177 Return to the Fugue ................................................................................................