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Truffaut Un-Sutured : a psychogeographical reading of The 400 Blows

Bibliography : leaves 154-162.

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Main Author: Hansen, Signe
Other Authors: Higgins, John
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of English Language and Literature 2014
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access_status_str Open Access
author Hansen, Signe
author2 Higgins, John
author_browse Hansen, Signe
Higgins, John
author_facet Higgins, John
Hansen, Signe
author_sort Hansen, Signe
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description Bibliography : leaves 154-162.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
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license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2014
publishDateRange 2014
publishDateSort 2014
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/7707 Truffaut Un-Sutured : a psychogeographical reading of The 400 Blows Hansen, Signe Higgins, John English Language and Literature Bibliography : leaves 154-162. In its application to cinema, suturing denotes the process by which film narrative is rendered seamless. This enables the identification required for a spectator to become the subject of a film and also functions to conceal the film’s ideological mechanisms. In a critical survey of existing criticism of Francois Truffaut's films in general, and The 400 Blows in particular, the dissertation argues that the majority of this scholarship colludes with the textual suturing process by neglecting to pose ideological questions of the films. An application of the Situationist theory of psychogeography to The 400 Blows serves as a counter to this critical trend. The concept is not only thematically pertinent to the film, but also provides an analytical tool to un-suture the filmic text and thereby to situate The 400 Blows ideologically. By focusing on the interaction between individuals and a socially conditioned environment, a psychogeographical reading combines a psychoanalytical and materialist analysis of the film. This critical perspective departs from most existing scholarship by insisting on the film as a discursive response to a particular socio-historical context. Based on a reading of the film’s conclusion as signifying Trufauts un-suturing of his own text, the dissertation argues that the director’s discourse challenges hegemonic codes by asserting the desire for a self-determined situation. Contending that this is commensurate with a rejection of the passive subjecthcod dictated by consumerist culture, it concludes that the film represents a form of discursive psychogeography. This supports the argument for situating Truffaut and the Situationists together in what Raymond Williams terms a structure of feeling, the shared ideological context that finally serves to validate a psychogeographical reading of The 400 Blows. 2014-09-29T07:21:21Z 2014-09-29T07:21:21Z 2002 Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7707 eng application/pdf Department of English Language and Literature Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town
spellingShingle English Language and Literature
Hansen, Signe
Truffaut Un-Sutured : a psychogeographical reading of The 400 Blows
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Truffaut Un-Sutured : a psychogeographical reading of The 400 Blows
title_full Truffaut Un-Sutured : a psychogeographical reading of The 400 Blows
title_fullStr Truffaut Un-Sutured : a psychogeographical reading of The 400 Blows
title_full_unstemmed Truffaut Un-Sutured : a psychogeographical reading of The 400 Blows
title_short Truffaut Un-Sutured : a psychogeographical reading of The 400 Blows
title_sort truffaut un sutured a psychogeographical reading of the 400 blows
topic English Language and Literature
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7707
work_keys_str_mv AT hansensigne truffautunsuturedapsychogeographicalreadingofthe400blows