A Sanguinary Economy and Aesthetics: the Pulse in Horror Cinema
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A sanguinary economy and aesthetics: the pulse in horror cinema Sharon Jane Mee A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of the Arts and Media Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences November 2017 PLEASE TYPE THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Thesis/Dissertation Sheet Surname or Family name: Mee First name: Sharon Other name/s: Jane Abbreviation for degree as given in the University calendar: PhD School: School of the Arts and Media Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Title: A sanguinary economy and aesthetics: the pulse in horror cinema Abstract 350 words maximum: (PLEASE TYPE) This dissertation analyses William Castle’s The Tingler (1959), George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978), Lucio Fulci’s L’aldilà/The Beyond (1981), and Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession (1981) to find the pulse in cinema. It acknowledges that the pulse is “felt” rather than “perceived,” yet argues that the pulse has a wider-reaching effect in cinema than simply the physiological response of the spectator to the image. My aim is to establish the terms according to which the economy and aesthetics of the pulse can be brought to bear on our understanding of cinema and cinema spectatorship. I argue that the economy of spectatorship is better understood by Jean-François Lyotard’s concept of the dispositif than the formulation of the cinematic apparatus of 1970s film theory, which sought to demonstrate the ideological interpellation of the viewing subject. The dispositif recognises the distribution of the pulse—the force of intensities in the body of the spectator and in the image—in terms of an energetic exchange and expenditure. The dispositif is vital for thinking about the spectator as a component in the energetic system of cinema. My conception of the pulse in cinema is characterised by the energetic relationship between the spectator and the image, and is Open. This pulse is imperceptible in the image and works to the originary sensory aesthetics of aisthesis in the viewer. Aisthesis, in this thesis, refers to the sensations that are “exposed” by the apparatus. However, what is also “exposed” is the freedom of the blood that circulates in an exposure that spills blood and, in so doing, changes aisthesis to aesthetics. I conceive the pulse as aisthetic because it is the minimal condition of sensation, whilst being the propulsion for the blood that circulates. This thesis will thus examine the pulse “exposed” through the spilling of blood in horror cinema, which exemplifies a cinema of expenditures. Such expenditures transform subjectivity into the operations of a sovereign spectatorship. It is in experiencing horror film that the pulse is most potent, for it is within such films that the affective forces of horror characterised by blood can be found. Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all property rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350-word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstracts International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). …………………………………………………………… ……………………………………..……………… ……….…………... Signature Witness Signature Date The University recognises that there may be exceptional circumstances requiring restrictions on copying or conditions on use. Requests for restriction for a period of up to 2 years must be made in writing. Requests for a longer period of restriction may be considered in exceptional circumstances and require the approval of the Dean of Graduate Research. FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Date of completion of requirements for Award: ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research of others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in this thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed ……………………………………. Date ……………………………………… COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.’ Signed ………………………………………… Date …………………………………………… AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ Signed ………………………………………. Date ………………………………………….. ABSTRACT This dissertation analyses William Castle’s The Tingler (1959), George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978), Lucio Fulci’s L’aldilà/The Beyond (1981), and Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession (1981) to find the pulse in cinema. It acknowledges that the pulse is “felt” rather than “perceived,” yet argues that the pulse has a wider-reaching effect in cinema than simply the physiological response of the spectator to the image. My aim is to establish the terms according to which the economy and aesthetics of the pulse can be brought to bear on our understanding of cinema and cinema spectatorship. I argue that the economy of spectatorship is better understood by Jean-François Lyotard’s concept of the dispositif than the formulation of the cinematic apparatus of 1970s film theory, which sought to demonstrate the ideological interpellation of the viewing subject. The dispositif recognises the distribution of the pulse—the force of intensities in the body of the spectator and in the image—in terms of an energetic exchange and expenditure. The dispositif is vital for thinking about the spectator as a component in the energetic system of cinema. My conception of the pulse in cinema is characterised by the energetic relationship between the spectator and the image, and is Open. This pulse is imperceptible in the image and works to the originary sensory aesthetics of aisthesis in the viewer. Aisthesis, in this thesis, refers to the sensations that are “exposed” by the apparatus. However, what is also “exposed” is the freedom of the blood that circulates in an exposure that spills blood and, in so doing, changes aisthesis to aesthetics. I conceive the pulse as aisthetic because it is the minimal condition of sensation, whilst being the propulsion for the blood that circulates. This thesis will thus examine the pulse “exposed” through the spilling of blood in horror cinema, which exemplifies a cinema of expenditures. Such expenditures transform subjectivity into the operations of a sovereign spectatorship. It is in experiencing horror film that the pulse is most potent, for it is within such films that the affective forces of horror characterised by blood can be found. i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgements iv List of Illustrations/Images v Introduction 1 0.1 Background (i) Rosalind E. Krauss’s theory of the pulse (ii) Rhythm and the pulse 0.2 Definition of concepts (i) Energetics—dispositif and economy (ii) Aisthesis (iii) Potentiality, freedom, sovereign operations 0.3 Analysis: body horror 0.4 Structure Chapter 1. The rhythm of life: the pulse in the image 36 1.1 Rhythm and the pulse 1.2 Rhythm in experimental cinema (i) American avant-garde and the Structuralist/Materialists (ii) The French Impressionists (iii) Dada 1.3 Protocinema: Étienne-Jules Marey 1.4 The pulse in psychoanalysis: Sigmund Freud Chapter 2. The rhythm of life: the pulse in the spectator 93 2.1 Surfaces of inscription and passages of intensity 2.2 Movement, and an Opening 2.3 The logic of sensation as a diastolic–systolic Opening 2.4 A libidinal economy, and an Opening 2.5 Candour as the body’s Openness to an outside i ii Chapter 3. Aisthesis and dispositif: the pulse and its analogues in William Castle’s The Tingler (1959) 141 3.1 Extracting the fear that tingles the spine: the hype, the buzz of the gimmick, and the bottom line 3.2 The execution: The Tingler (1959) 3.3 Aisthesis and prescribed lines 3.4 Prescription and the aesthetics of blood spilled 3.5 The pulse “exposed” 3.6 Dispositif: lines of fright 3.7 Figural analogues or “a metonymy without end”: the heart that throbs, the spine that tingles, the mouth that screams.