The mechanical mirror: An exploration of literary serialism in the 20th century

Michael Thomas Smith, Purdue University

Abstract

My dissertation argues that mass production in the 20th century led literature to reference its own production. I begin by noting that the word "cliché" was first used in 1832 in reference to the sound steel plates made in mass-printing. Walter Ong argues that while Homeric poems lauded what we would see as the cliché, the 19th Century saw it as a denigratory term. This transformation of critical opinion reveals how technology directly impacts the critical valuation of literature as well as its creation in terms of production. Coinciding with Fordian mass production, serial literature began to reference its own production as serialized items. For example, each Chaplin film speaks to a larger "Tramp" identity formed across all his films. I cite De Man's notion of fragmentation in "Shelley Disfigured" to continue this discussion; he claims that we monumentalize works like a statue, piecing together some rigid identity of an author and/or movement. Serialism, by its fractured nature, tempts such an approach. However, in doing so, its fragmentation (and thereby production as a serial work) is brought to light. My next chapter examines the films of Charlie Chaplin, claiming technology led to serialized film production. For example, as the standard length of a 35 mm motion picture reel was 1,000 feet (300 m), the lengths of silent films were often limited to one or two reel length. In order to capitalize on popular stars, studios used serialism to produce short films that were connected. Moreover, Chaplin assumes the mechanism that produces him: Marcel Duchamp observed the "twitchy" nature of silent films and old Nickelodeons as embodied in the Tramp figure. Additionally, Chaplin's iconic gestures are further self-reflective as they point to the effective deafness adopted by the spectator of silent cinema. In Modern Times, we even see the Tramp allegorized as a film strip/image when he is fed through a camera-like machine. Also, the mock-up of a sound movie (the Big Boss' instructions) dropped into Chaplin's silent one throws into relief the fiction of this universe, revealing its production. My third chapter focuses on the work of James Joyce, particularly Finnegans Wake. In "Interpreting Serials," Umberto Eco argues that serialism is defined by episodic storytelling in which the plot can remain in a stasis while character and thematic development occur. Serialism developed into not just repetition but segmentation. Both Ulysses and Finnegans Wake were published serially. Joyce wrote the Wake using a technique that A. Walton Litz termed "fusion." By incorporating a mass of allusions into his work, Joyce segmented his serialized novel into stand-alone units that therefore interact with each other "intertextually." Even down to individual words, Joyce formed countless riddling constructions that point to the mechanism of language (its production). As the Wake is composed mainly of words that are not present, they too reference something "outside" of themselves like in the case of serialism. Its reader, subjected to said riddles, grasps for meaning. Thus, the Wake is also an allegory of reading, further referencing itself. In my final chapter, I examine the works of Quentin Tarantino. I begin by considering Slavoj Žižek's claim that self-referentiality has been increasingly used in Hollywood to make old narratives palatable to us. Constructing his films from other films, Tarantino wants to place his work into a chain of conversation with conventions past. With this in mind, I argue that mass production has an effect so strong on our unconscious minds that we tend to serialize works regardless of their type. I claim this serialism creates a unique affective experience for viewers. Tarantino's construction forces us to recall past experiences, not just remember allusions. We must interact with prior versions of ourselves (like serialism) in order to fully appreciate these works. Tarantino has even retroactively serialized his works, claiming that many of his characters are related—a fact that speaks to the impact serialism has had in the world.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Duerfahrd, Purdue University.

Subject Area

American literature|Film studies

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