Bey-Rozet, Maxime
(2020)
Irredeemable: Céline, Extreme Cinemas, and the Opacity of Trauma.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
This dissertation examines the legacy of French novelist Louis-Ferdinand Céline in recent so-called “extreme cinemas.” It is structured around the concept of “opacity,” which signals the resistance to knowledge, clarity, and discursivity that extreme films and Céline’s novels have in common. This dissertation discusses the political implications of opacity, particularly as it pertains to representations of systemic and French historical trauma, and to what Leo Bersani has described as a “culture of redemption.” The first two chapters focus heavily on Céline, first by analyzing the formal and rhetorical similarities that exist between his novels and extreme films, and second by fleshing out what opacity entails in the specific case of Céline’s notoriously deplorable politics. The last two chapters focus on extreme films: Chapter 3 pairs I Stand Alone (1999, Gaspar Noé) and In My Skin (2002, Marina de Van) in a discussion of the systemic traumas of, respectively, French post-Occupation patriarchy and corporate culture. Chapter 4 discusses Caché (2005, Michael Haneke) and the massacre of 17 October, 1961, and argues that historical opacity and uncertainty can be rehabilitated into a position of critical introspection. The dissertation ends with a reconsideration of the aesthetic tradition of extreme cinemas, and concludes on the implications, in film and literature, of the shift away from victims of trauma, onto perpetrators instead.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
16 September 2020 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
29 May 2020 |
| Approval Date: |
16 September 2020 |
| Submission Date: |
12 June 2020 |
| Access Restriction: |
2 year -- Restrict access to University of Pittsburgh for a period of 2 years. |
| Number of Pages: |
167 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Film Studies |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Film Studies; Trauma; Redemption; Comparative; France |
| Date Deposited: |
16 Sep 2020 13:28 |
| Last Modified: |
16 Sep 2022 05:15 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/39236 |
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