Stevens, Curtis Kyle
(2010)
Acting Social: The Cinema of Mike Nichols.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
This dissertation argues for the study of director Mike Nichols by elucidating his aesthetic, historical, social, and political importance. He ushered in the turn from "Classical" to "New" Hollywood, and studying his work illuminates unacknowledged similarities and differences in both periods. Furthermore, looking at the cultural significance of his oeuvre deepens our understanding of the cultural revolution of the 1960s, as well as key events in the ensuing five decades of American social history. By analyzing the methods for crafting scenarios that Nichols carried forward to the cinema from his seminal work in radio and theater, I generate new insight into the representation of the interpersonal on-screen, particularly through the lenses of gender and sexuality. There is no scholarship devoted to Nichols's study, and I look what his exclusion from debates in Cinema Studies tells us both about his films and about the dominant approaches and theoretical paradigms used to interpret the cinema, particularly regarding concepts such as character, performance, dialogue, the psychological, the human, and the social.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
| Creators | Email | Pitt Username | ORCID  |
|---|
| Stevens, Curtis Kyle | cks1@pitt.edu | CKS1 | |
|
| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
29 January 2010 |
| Date Type: |
Completion |
| Defense Date: |
28 September 2009 |
| Approval Date: |
29 January 2010 |
| Submission Date: |
9 November 2009 |
| Access Restriction: |
5 year -- Restrict access to University of Pittsburgh for a period of 5 years. |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > English |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Angels in America; Carnal Knowledge; cinema; cinema acting; cinema and emotion; cinema dialogue; cinema improvisation; cinematic performance; close-up; Compass Theater; Compass Theatre; Dustin Hoffman; Jack Nicholson; Meryl Streep; Mike Nichols; Nichols and May; Paul Sills; performance; Postcards from the Edge; silence; Silkwood; The Birdcage; The Graduate; Viola Spolin; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? |
| Other ID: |
http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-11092009-172015/, etd-11092009-172015 |
| Date Deposited: |
10 Nov 2011 20:04 |
| Last Modified: |
15 Nov 2016 13:51 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/9611 |
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