New book from the Cambridge Scholars Press:
The Spectral Body: Aspects of the Cinematic Oeuvre of István Szabó
by Zoltán Dragon
The Spectral Body: Aspects of the Cinematic Oeuvre of István Szabó analyses
some of the films made by Academy Award winner Hungarian filmmaker István
Szabó to establish an interpretative matrix disclosing the root of haunting
effects in the visual and the narrative levels of the diegeses. By combining
two distinct—and often incongruous—lines of psychoanalytic thought (by
Nicolas Abraham and Jacques Lacan), Zoltán Dragon argues that these films
are fuelled by the work of a phantom on all levels, hiding the secrets of
the family history of the characters and producing uncanny visual scenarios
to make the act of hiding even more effective. The book brings the reader
into the realm of the 'phantom text' generating the film texts and crypt
screens of the oeuvre, and investigates the causes of undiscussible and
painful secrets that propel some pivotal characters to reappear in
subsequent films, apparently driven by a compulsion to continue their
narration, failing to finish their stories—even when they appear to be
successful. The Spectral Body: Aspects of the Cinematic Oeuvre of István
Szabó introduces a visual reinterpretation of Abraham's phantom theory that
opens up possibilities for an alternative way of studying film.
"The work employs a psychoanalytic framework with some key concepts such as
'the phantom' drawn from the work of Torok and Abraham. This theory is
fairly well known but it has not, to my knowledge, been used in any
extensive way in the analysis of film texts before. Zoltan also makes
reference to Freud and uses some Lacanian ideas in his analysis at the level
of the visual. These multiple theoretical references are not inconsistent;
they are finely judged and are most productive. Theory is never used as a
grid to be imposed on the material. There is a fine balance between theory
and textual analysis that is hard to achieve, but it is successful here.
I think that the position that Zoltan Dragon has forged for himself and from
which he writes, is a highly original and interesting one. He has been most
successful in developing his framework in relation to Szabó's oeuvre which
he knows in the greatest detail. His readings of that oeuvre are rich and
powerful and will provoke considerable debate in the world of film studies
and also of psychoanalytical studies."
Parveen Adams, Core Teaching Faculty, London Consortium
For further information and to order, visit
http://www.cambridgescholarspress.com/Flyers/The-Spectral-Body--Aspects-of-the-Cinematic-Oeuvre-of-Istvan-Szabo.htm
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