To have and have not: A poetics of ambivalence in the cine-ecriture of Marguerite Duras, Assia Djebar, and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Item

Title
To have and have not: A poetics of ambivalence in the cine-ecriture of Marguerite Duras, Assia Djebar, and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Identifier
d_2009_2013:3fb7ea6f8a2c:10474
identifier
10692
Creator
Kassel, Deborah,
Contributor
Andre Aciman
Date
2010
Language
English
Publisher
City University of New York.
Subject
Comparative literature | Romance literature | African literature | American literature
Abstract
In this study I examine the theme of ambivalence as a fundamental aspect of three artists' personal and aesthetic identities. Marguerite Duras, Assia Djebar, and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala distinguish themselves by their commitment to a "total work of art" that resists discrete compartmentalization by genre, medium, or politics. In appreciation for their role as "dual-practitioners," I assert that they be referred to as cine-romanciers, a variation on the term cine-roman, originally coined by Armand Astruc. The nomenclature is especially apt, as it implies hybridity both in form and substance. Duras, Djebar, and Jhabvala create on screen and in print characters that struggle with competing cultural, religious, and aesthetic identities. This dissertation focuses on selected examples of what I refer to as cine-ecriture, a multi-media-enriched practice foregrounding the play of competing allegiance and betrayal, of belonging and exile.
Type
dissertation
Source
2009_2013.csv
degree
Ph.D.
Program
Comparative Literature