University of Warwick institutional repository: http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap/67648 This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. Montage Aesthetics: Narrative, Adaptation and Urban Modernity in Alfred Döblin’s Berlin Alexanderplatz by Mario Slugan A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Film & Television Studies and German Studies University of Warwick, Departments of Film and Television Studies, and German Studies October 2014 Contents LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES ........................................................................ IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... VI DECLARATION ...................................................................................................... VII ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................ VIII INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 1 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 13 SCHOLARSHIP ON MONTAGE ...................................................................................................... 14 MONTAGE IN FILM ........................................................................................................................ 14 MONTAGE ACROSS ARTS ............................................................................................................. 18 SCHOLARSHIP ON MONTAGE IN ALFRED DÖBLIN’S BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ ....... 33 BIBLIOGRAPHIES AND COMPANIONS ...................................................................................... 33 PRE-WAR DISCUSSION OF MONTAGE ....................................................................................... 35 POST-WAR DISCUSSION OF MONTAGE ..................................................................................... 38 SCHOLARSHIP ON FILM ADAPTATIONS OF BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ ........................ 47 ADAPTATION IN GENERAL .......................................................................................................... 47 RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER’S ADAPTATION ..................................................................... 52 PIEL JUTZI’S ADAPTATION .......................................................................................................... 58 CHAPTER 1 TOWARDS A HISTORICAL PHENOMENOLOGY OF MONTAGE PRACTICES: DISCOURSES ON FILM MONTAGE AND PHOTOMONTAGE IN 1920S GERMANY ................................................................................................ 61 FILM MONTAGE ................................................................................................................................ 66 PHOTOMONTAGE ............................................................................................................................. 80 THE EXPERIENCE OF MODERNITY OR “HYPER-STIMULATION” .................................... 86 “HYPER-STIMULATION”, ATTRACTION AND FRAGMENTATION ........................................ 92 THE “HYPER-STIMULATION” SUBSETS: CONTINUITY, DISRUPTION AND CONFUSION ......................................................................................................................................................... 100 HISTORICAL RECEPTION STUDIES AND THEIR CURIOUS LACUNAE ............................. 107 CONTEMPORARY WEIMAR FILM RECEPTION ..................................................................... 111 THE “RUSSIAN FILM” AND THE EXPERIENCE OF DISRUPTION ........................................ 115 THE DISTINCTION FROM OTHER NON-DISRUPTIVE EDITING PRACTICES ................... 123 i THE CROSS-SECTION FILM AND THE EXPERIENCE OF CONFUSION .............................. 126 THE STREET FILM AND POSSIBLE PROBLEMS ..................................................................... 133 CHAPTER 2 LITERARY MONTAGE IN ALFRED DÖBLIN’S BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ: STYLISTIC, PHENOMENOLOGICAL AND NARRATOLOGICAL PROPERTIES ................................................................... 138 THE READY-MADE AND THE STYLISTIC DISTINCTIVENESS ........................................... 138 LITERARY MONTAGE AS A DISRUPTIVE USE OF READY-MADES ................................... 147 CONTEMPORARY RECEPTION OF BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ ........................................... 147 CONTEMPORARY RECEPTION OF ULYSSES AND MANHATTAN TRANSFER ...................... 154 A NARRATOLOGICAL DEFINITION OF MONTAGE ............................................................... 162 THE TROUBLES WITH THE EXTRADIEGETIC NARRATOR ................................................. 162 THE NEAR-UBIQUITY OF THE CONTROLLING FICTIONAL NARRATORS ....................... 169 MONTAGE AND THE CONTROLLING FICTIONAL NARRATOR .......................................... 175 AN ANALYSIS OF ALFRED DÖBLIN’S BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ ................................... 178 INTRADIEGETIC MOTIVATION AND VOICE MODULATION ................................................ 180 MONTAGE AND THE EXPERIENCE OF THE CITY .................................................................. 185 DIEGESIS AND MONTAGE .......................................................................................................... 190 VOICELESS MONTAGE ............................................................................................................... 197 CHAPTER 3 A FORMALIST ADAPTATION STUDY: VISUAL AND SOUND MONTAGE IN PIEL JUTZI’S BERLIN-ALEXANDERPLATZ ............................................... 201 INTRODUCTION TO AN ADAPTATION STUDY........................................................................ 201 INTERPRETATION AS ADAPTATION ......................................................................................... 201 THE REQUIREMENT OF ORIGINALITY AND THE PERILS OF INTERPRETATION ........... 211 PIEL JUTZI’S BERLIN-ALEXANDERPLATZ ............................................................................... 220 AN ANALYSIS OF THE TRAM-RIDE SEQUENCE .................................................................... 224 AN ANALYSIS OF THE ALEXANDERPLATZ HAWKING SEQUENCE .................................. 243 CHAPTER 4 MONTAGE AND THE CONTROLLING FICTIONAL NARRATION IN RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER’S BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ .............. 261 THE NEAR-ABSENCE OF CONTROLLING NARRATORS IN FICTION FILM ................... 261 THE GREAT IMAGE MAKER....................................................................................................... 261 THE ENUNCIATOR ....................................................................................................................... 264 THE ANALYTIC VERSION OF THE GREAT IMAGE MAKER ................................................. 270 “A FILM IN 13 PARTS AND AN EPILOGUE” .............................................................................. 278 ATYPICAL EDITING PATTERNS ................................................................................................. 279 ASYMMETRIC SHOT/COUNTER-SHOT STRUCTURES ..................................................... 279 THE EPILOGUE’S “DREAM LOGIC” ..................................................................................... 288 ii THE APPROPRIATION OF LITERARY MONTAGE ................................................................... 295 FILM ALTERNATIVES TO LITERARY MONTAGE ................................................................... 301 FLASHBACKS ........................................................................................................................... 302 ASSOCIATIVE MONTAGE ....................................................................................................... 306 INTERTITLES ............................................................................................................................ 310 VOICE-OVER MONTAGE ........................................................................................................ 312 FILM MONTAGE AS UNCONVENTIONAL SPATIO-TEMPORAL DISLOCATION ................ 314 VISUAL IN-SHOT MONTAGE ................................................................................................. 320 THE CONTROLLING FICTIONAL NARRATOR IN FASSBINDER’S ADAPTATION ............. 324 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 331 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................... 335 FILMOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................... 388 WORD COUNT ....................................................................................................... 393 iii List of Figures and Tables Figure 0.1 Head (1914), Pablo Picasso ................................................................................................. 21 Figure 0.2 Fruit Dish and Glass (1912), Georges Braque ..................................................................... 21 Figure 0.3 The Street Enters the House (1913), Umberto Boccioni .....................................................