VISUAL LITERACY, METAFICTION, AND HORROR MOVIES: AN ACCOUNT OF SELF-REFLEXIVITY IN THE NEW STALKER FILM A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE INSTITUTE OF ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES AND THE DEPARTMENT OF GRAPHIC DESIGN OF BILKENT UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ART, DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE by Orhan Anafarta July, 2001 I certify that I have read this thesis and that in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ------------------------- Assist. Prof. Dr. Mahmut Mutman (Principal Advisor) I certify that I have read this thesis and that in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ------------------------- Assist. Prof. Dr. Nezih Erdogan I certify that I have read this thesis and that in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ------------------------- Dr. Çetin Sarikartal I certify that I have read this thesis and that in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ------------------------- Assist. Prof. Dr. Irem Balkir I certify that I have read this thesis and that in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ------------------------- Assist. Prof. Dr. Asuman Suner Approved by the Institute of Fine Arts ------------------------- Prof. Dr. Bülent Özgüç, Director of the Institute of Fine Arts ii ABSTRACT VISUAL LITERACY, METAFICTION, AND HORROR MOVIES: AN ACCOUNT OF SELF-REFLEXIVITY IN THE NEW STALKER FILM Orhan Anafarta Ph. D. in A.D.A Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Mahmut Mutman July, 2001 This study investigates the significance of metafiction, game, and visual literacy as they relate to today's changing practices of spectatorship. These concepts are elaborated in relation to the rebirth of the eighties' horror film genre 'stalker' as a self- reflexive text in the nineties. Scream (Wes Craven, 1996) is taken as the purest specimen of the 'new stalker' in which the above- mentioned concepts can be observed with clarity. Keywords: Visual literacy, metafiction, stalker film, game. iii ÖZET GÖRSEL OKUR-YAZARLIK, ÜSTKURMACA, VE KORKU FILMLERI: YENI STALKER FILMINDE KENDI-ÜZERINE-DÜSÜNEN-KURGU OLGUSUNUN DEGERLENDIRILMESI Orhan Anafarta Sanat, Tasarim ve Mimarlik Doktora Programi Tez Yöneticisi: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Mahmut Mutman Temmuz, 2001 Bu çalisma üstkurmaca, oyun, ve görsel duyarlilik kavramlarini günümüzün degisen izleyicilik pratikleri çerçevesinde ele almaktadir. Bu kavramlar, 80'ler korku sinemasinin bir alt türü olan 'stalker'in 90'larda kendi üzerine düsünen bir metin olarak yeniden dogusu baglaminda tartisilmaktadir. Yeni stalker'in en saf örnegi olmak suretiyle yukaridaki kavramlarin net bir sekilde gözlemlenmesine olanak veren Scream (Wes Craven, 1996), çalismanin odak noktasini teskil etmektedir. Anahtar kelimeler: Görsel duyarlilik, üstkurmaca, stalker filmi, oyun. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is the result of a five-year struggle dominated mostly by an uncertainty as to whether it could eventually be completed. The last year of this fluctuating process contained the set of motivations that led me to harvest what I had gathered thus far and mold it into a Ph.D. dissertation. Foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to three persons who have supported me from the very beginning. My advisor Dr. Mahmut Mutman endured the twists and turns of my research and constantly provided me with the courage to proceed even when I decided to make the most drastic changes in my areas of inquiry. His trust, academic mastery and open-mindedness made me feel comfortable with what I was doing and enabled me to persevere. Prof. Bülent Özgüç displayed great patience and tolerance throughout my work, considering the ways in which I handled my course work at Bilkent. Also, by giving me the permission to suspend my Ph.D. study at Bilkent University for one year, Prof. Özgüç provided me with the time required to complete my thesis. Dr. Nezih Erdogan has always been a great mentor as regards my work in various fields of film studies. Throughout the last three years of my Ph.D. study, my work at Geceyarisi Sinemasi magazine constantly kept me connected with film studies and enabled me to develop my research and writing skills on horror cinema. On that account, I am grateful to the enthusiastic Geceyarisi crew, Kaya Özkaracalar, Savas Arslan, and Sadi Konuralp. I am always inspired by their writings and the discussions we have. In particular, I would like to thank Kaya for motivating and encouraging me to write on films that I enjoyed watching. Long live Geceyarisi Sinemasi! Dr. Çetin Sarikartal, my dear friend and colleague, has given me enormous support for the last two years. Foremost, I will always cherish the memories of our wonderful collaboration in the Basic Design course (99-00) that we conducted together at Bilkent University. He not only helped me to advance my understanding of visual literacy and education but also assisted me in progressing my modest research into a full-blown theoretical structure for a Ph.D. thesis. v Furthermore, during my year at York University in Toronto, Canada, Çetin continued providing me with intellectual and emotional support via e-mail. He fulfilled the roles of both co-advisor and close friend. My gratitude toward him is beyond words. As regards my year at York University in the Department of film and Video, I must acknowledge a group of people who provided me with much support and energy in actualizing this study. Professor Janine Marchessault, director of the department, contributed to my process of writing on various levels. As my professor in film theory, her comments on my work were very useful as I developed my thesis outline. As an experienced writer, she also gave me helpful hints on 'how to write a Ph.D. thesis,' all of which worked perfectly. I would also like to acknowledge Professor Suzy Young, who supported me in a similar way: giving me advice and guidance. Lorraine Hardie, the Film and Video Graduate Programme assistant, did her best to make life easier for me regarding the official procedures of the University. I would have easily gotten lost among the many papers and forms that I had to fill out without Lorraine's help. During my research on the new-stalker phenomenon, Steven Schneider of NYU, who is as far as I know the only other scholar writing specifically on that topic, provided the most important items of my bibliography by sending me the photocopies of his articles. Finally, I wish to express my endless gratitude to people who form my family. Without the love and support of my father, mother and sister, I could not have accomplished anything at all in my life, let alone write a Ph.D. thesis. Also, my dear friends Mario Antognetti and Palma Pisciella, whom I consider to be my brother and sister, have enriched my life in so many ways. I constantly felt their presence even when I was working for days in isolation, without which my process of adapting to the life in a foreign country would have been extremely difficult. I wonder how I could have managed to focus on anything at all without knowing that Mario and Palma were always there if I needed help. vi During the months of writing my thesis, I received the greatest support from my partner Geneviève Appleton, who helped me on various levels in getting through this excruciating process. It is already difficult to be partners with someone who has embarked on working toward a Ph.D. degree; patience and understanding were the only things I could have asked for. However, Geneviève provided me with much more than that. She never got tired of giving me emotional support even when I was unbearably worried and pessimistic. I always regained my confidence and motivation after hearing her encouraging comments. Besides her amazing ability to keep me within the boundaries of sanity, Geneviève never hesitated to take the time during her busy schedule to read difficult, complicated paragraphs and share her insights with me, which always motivated me to continue writing where before I had been blocked. As a part of her intellectual support, Geneviève shared my experience of watching the infamous new-stalker Scream, despite the fact that she was not particularly interested in horror films. Finally, she proofread the thesis manuscript, and inspired me to rethink the parts that seemed problematic. She not only made me feel better about the thesis but about life in general. Thank you Geneviève. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT........................................................ iii ÖZET............................................................ iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................ v TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................... viii 1. INTRODUCTION............................................... 1 1.1. Visual Literacy and the Problem of Communication...... 2 1.2. Image as Myth and the Process of Representation....... 12 2. FICTION, METAFICTION, AND REALITY.......................... 26 2.1. Hypericons and Metapictures........................... 28 2.2. Self-reflexivity, Metafiction, and Parody............. 34 3. THE RISE OF THE CONTEMPORARY HORROR FILM AND THE CLASSIC 'STALKER'.................................. 51 3.1. The Contemporary Horror Film.......................... 53 3.2. The Playful Audience: The Classic Stalker and