Kim, Hyunjin
(2024)
From Méliès to Ducournau: Transhumanist Bodies in French Cinema.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
This dissertation examines the films of four French directors, Georges Méliès, René Laloux, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and Julia Ducournau, from the perspective of transhumanism. While the term “transhumanism” was not coined until 1957 by Julien Huxley, these filmmakers all, in their own ways, explore modes of bodily change and the limits of what it means to be human. Unlike the conventional definition that can be assimilated with or opposed to posthumanism, I define transhumanism as an attempt to transform and adapt human bodies with or without the help of technology. Chapter One demonstrates how fantastic moments of transformation in the films of Méliès, such as The Vanishing Lady (1896), The Four Troublesome Heads (1898), and Prolific Magic Egg (1903), can be reconceptualized from the perspective of transhumanism. Chapter Two focuses on René Laloux’s animated films (Fantastic Planet, 1973, Gandahar, 1987) that subvert the hierarchy between the abled and the disabled via techniques such as cut-outs, hand drawing, and watercolors. Chapter Three interrogates the relationship between animality and transhumanism in the films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Human bodies in his films are hybridized with plant and animal bodies (Two Snails Set Off, 2017), turned into animal meat (Delicatessen, 1991), or forced to mimic animals in order to survive (Bigbug, 2022). In the fourth chapter, I examine these issues in the context of transhumanism’s traditional province: technology. Through an extended analysis of Julia Ducournau, especially her film Titane (2021), I show how she defamiliarizes human notions of metamorphosis across her films.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
27 August 2024 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
22 July 2024 |
| Approval Date: |
27 August 2024 |
| Submission Date: |
22 July 2024 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
181 |
| 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: |
Transhumanism, Posthumanism, French cinema, Animation, Corporality, Transformation, Transgression, Adaptation |
| Date Deposited: |
27 Aug 2024 13:24 |
| Last Modified: |
27 Aug 2024 13:24 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/46418 |
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