Reading for Fictional Worlds in Literature and Film
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Reading for Fictional Worlds in Literature and Film Danielle Simard Doctor of Philosophy University of York English and Related Literature March, 2020 2 Abstract The aim of this thesis is to establish a critical methodology which reads for fictional worlds in literature and film. Close readings of literary and cinematic texts are presented in support of the proposition that the fictional world is, and arguably should be, central to the critical process. These readings demonstrate how fictional world-centric readings challenge the conclusions generated by approaches which prioritise the author, the reader and the viewer. I establish a definition of independent fictional worlds, and show how characters rather than narrative are the means by which readers access the fictional world in order to analyse it. This interdisciplinary project engages predominantly with theoretical and critical work on literature and film to consider four distinct groups of contemporary novels and films. These texts demand readings that pose potential problems for my approach, and therefore test the scope and viability of my thesis. I evaluate character and narrative through Fight Club (novel, Chuck Palahniuk [1996] film, David Fincher [1999]); genre, context, and intertextuality in Solaris (novel, Stanisław Lem [1961] film, Andrei Tarkovsky [1974] film, Steven Soderbergh [2002]); mythic thinking and character’s authority with American Gods (novel, Neil Gaiman [2001]) and Anansi Boys (novel, Neil Gaiman [2005]); and temporality and nationality in Cronos (film, Guillermo Del Toro [1993]), El espinazo del diablo (film, Guillermo Del Toro [2001]), and El laberinto del fauno (film, Guillermo Del Toro [2006]). 3 List of Contents Reading for Fictional Worlds in Literature and Film 1 Abstract 2 List of Contents 3 List of Figures 4 Acknowledgements 6 Declaration 7 Introduction 8 Part One: The Sum of its Parts 11 Part Two: Critical Readings 44 Chapter One: I am Jack’s Subjective Representation of Fight Club – Issues of Narration and Character 45 Dancing With Myself – Narration and Character in Palahniuk’s Fight Club 45 Where is my Mind – Fincher’s Fight Club and Medium-Specificity in Narration and Character 57 Chapter Two: Solaris in Triplicate - the Alien, the Art Object, and the Remake 67 Solaris: 1961 – Let’s Talk About the Alien 68 Solaris: 1972 – A Space Odyssey 82 Solaris: 2002 – A Colourful Remake 93 Chapter Three: Keeping it Real – Myth and Myth-Making in American Gods and Anansi Boys 105 Myth-Busting in American Gods 105 Anansi Boys – I Could be Talked Into it with Mythopoeic Voice 117 Chapter Four: Taking Their Own Sweet Time – A Child’s Experience in Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone, and Pan’s Labyrinth 127 In the Nick of Time – Aurora’s Calmness in Cronos 127 Stopping Dead – Time and the Uncanny Child in The Devil’s Backbone 135 Once Upon a Time, Ofelia Used Mythopoeic Voice in Pan’s Labyrinth 147 Conclusion 159 Bibliography 162 Filmography 175 4 List of Figures Figure 1 – The credits roll over the Narrator’s neurons (David Fincher's Fight Club) 58 Figure 2 – The Narrator looks past the gun barrel (David Fincher's Fight Club) 59 Figure 3 – Tyler holds the Narrator at gunpoint (David Fincher's Fight Club) 59 Figure 4 – Tyler obscures the Narrator (David Fincher's Fight Club) 59 Figure 5 – Tyler maintains control (David Fincher's Fight Club) 63 Figure 6 –Tyler Tyler throws the Narrator down the stairs (David Fincher's Fight Club) 63 Figure 7 – Our first glimpse of the fictional world 63 Figure 8 – Weeds in the river (Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris) 83 Figure 9 – Kris Walks out of frame (Andrei Tarkosvky's Solaris) 84 Figure 10 – Tunnel lights convey speed (Andrei Tarkosvky's Solaris) 87 Figure 11 – Burton in a blue frame (Andrei Tarkokvsky's Solaris) 87 Figure 12 – Japanese signage in a Russian film (Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris) 88 Figure 13 – The urban megalopolis (Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris) 88 Figure 14 – Seed in Star Trek: The Next Generation 87 Figure 15 – Speed in Star Wars: Episode IV 87 Figure 16 – Interstellar speed as radiating colours (Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey) 89 Figure 17 – Lights reflected on a red space suit (Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey) 90 Figure 18 – Kelvin's red space suit (Steven Soderbergh's Solaris) 90 Figure 19 – Padded rooms and leather chairs (Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris) 92 Figure 20 – A wood library full of art (Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris) 92 Figure 21 – Casual clothing and comfortable furniture (Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris) 92 Figure 22 – Kevlin in desaturate green (Steven Soderberghs' Solaris) 96 Figure 23 – Memory in gold (Steven Soderbergh's Solaris) 96 Figure 24 – Ice blue on the Solaris station (Steven Soderbergh's Solaris) 96 Figure 25 – Hari in warm yellow (Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris) 96 Figure 26 – Hari watching Kelvin (Andrei Tarkovksy's Solaris) 100 Figure 27 – Rheya watching Kelvin (Steven Soderbergh's Solaris) 100 Figure 28 – Kelvin at the bottom of a noir staircase (Steven Soderbergh's Solaris) 102 Figure 29 – Rheya in exile behind Kelvin (Steven Soderbergh's Solaris) 103 Figure 30 – Jesús as an elderly grandfather (Guillermo del Toro's Cronos) 130 Figure 31 – Jesús grows youthful (Guillermo del Toro's Cronos) 130 Figure 32 – Jesús' skin sloughs away (Guillermo del Toro's Cronos) 130 Figure 33 – Jesús rifles through Dieter's desk (Guillermo del Toro's Cronos) 132 Figure 34 – Aurora wanders away from Jesús (Guillermo del Toro's Cronos) 132 Figure 35 – The camera loses Aurora (Guillermo del Toro's Cronos) 132 Figure 36 – Aurora retrieves Dieter's lockbox (Guillermo del Toro's Cronos) 132 Figure 37 – The camera ignores Aurora (Guillermo del Toro's Cronos) 133 Figure 38 – Aurora readies her strike (Guillermo del Toro's Cronos) 133 Figure 39 – Aurora's expressionless follow-through (Guillermo del Toro's Cronos) 133 Figure 40 – Aurora is completely at ease (Guillermo del Toro's Cronos) 134 Figure 41 – Santi's eternal present (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) 137 Figure 42 – Carlos greets Santi in the stillness (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) 140 Figure 43 – Carlos is suddenly attacked (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) 140 Figure 44 – Carlos knocks Jaime back (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) 140 5 Figure 45 – Carlos leaps into action to save Jaime (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) 140 Figure 46 – Jacinto mirrors Santi (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) 141 Figure 47 – Carlos gasps as he breaks the surface (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) 141 Figure 48 – Santi looks on (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) 141 Figure 49 – Jacinto watches Santi sink (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) 142 Figure 50 – Santi sinks into the cistern (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) 142 Figure 51 – Jacinto dashes through the rubble (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) 145 Figure 52 – Jacinto's shadow follows Jaime (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) 145 Figure 53 – The boys gain distance from Jacinto (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) 15 Figure 54 – Jacinto' frenzy in an ambush (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) 145 Figure 55 – Jacinto is slowly herded to the cistern (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) 146 Figure 56 – Jacinto drowns in Santi's embrace (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) 146 Figure 57 – Ofelia's magical forest (Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth) 153 Figure 58 – Ofelia loses time in the fig tree (Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth) 153 Figure 59 – Capitán Vidal at mid-afternoon (Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth) 154 Figure 60 – The old mossy faun (Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth) 155 Figure 61 – The faun is youthful and spry (Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth) 155 Figure 62 – Ofelia carefully hangs her dress (Guilllermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth) 156 Figure 63 – Ofelia clutches her ruined clothes (Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth) 156 Figure 64 – The labyrinth clears a way for Ofelia (Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth) 157 Figure 65 – Vidal stumbles, lost in the labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth) 157 Figure 66 – The mythic world is bright and curved (Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth) 158 Figure 67 – Vidal's world is grey and stark (Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth) 158 6 Acknowledgements I would not have been able to accomplish this thesis without a huge network of support academically and personally. A big note of thanks to my supervisor, Erica Sheen, whose insight, patience, and dedication was instrumental in producing a thesis I am proud to submit. Thanks also to Bryan Radley, my Thesis Advisory Panel member, whose commitment to my success was instrumental throughout the entire process, and also to Claire Chambers, who has been a support throughout my time at York. My family, although they are stuck on the other side of an ocean, are my cheerleaders and my strength. Great thanks to all of them. To my mom for her fierce love, and to my dad for his steady support. To my brother, who I know is proud of me and who knows I love him very much, and to my other brother, for his cheerful confidence in me. To my sister – she knows what for. A very special thanks to my nephews Micah and Eli, who love books and movies as much as I do. Their smiling faces and bottomless love has kept me going through every day. I also owe so much to my York family.