ENGLISH LITERATURE & CULTURE

1. ENGLISH LITERATURE & CULTURE ‘I’ IS ANOTHER: AUTOBIOGRAPHY ACROSS GENRES Camelia Elias

2. Woody Allen • film director, writer, actor, jazz musician, comedian and playwright. (won the Oscar 3 times) • his many films mix various styles: satire, wit and humor • writes and directs most of his films movies and also acts in the majority of them. • draws heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, European cinema, and New York City, where he was born and has lived his entire life.

3. the “I” as a pathological cultural case • assumes the identities of others • the result of expressing a lack of self and an obsession with self • pathological narcissism • obsessive fear of death • fear of fragmentation • fear of self-disintegration • alternation between fantasies of an idealized grandiose self and contemptuous self-deprecation • alternation between idealizing and feeling contempt for women

4. the self as a clinical subject • represented neuroses (Lidz) • schizophrenia • paranoia • compulsive genius • represented constructed, self-imposed, enacted neuroses (Allen) • emptiness • inability to form meaningful relationships • fear of intimacy • annihilation

5. the mediated self • “He was given to fits of rage, Jewish, liberal paranoia, male chauvinism, self-righteous misanthropy, and nihilistic moods of despair. He had complaints about life but never any solutions… He longed to be an artist but balked a the necessary sacrifices. In his most private moment she spoke of his fear of death, which he elevated to tragic heights, when in fact, it was mere narcissism.” (Manhattan)

6. manipulation vs. humor • a genuine sense of self emerges against the background of ridicule, humor, parody, caricature, exaggeration, dramatic irony • the self is mediated through the manipulation of the anticipated reactions of others • the anticipation of potential weaknesses puts the subject in a stronger position than that of his critics/detractors • pseudo-self-awareness: the narcissist manipulates the analyst

7. self-awareness as meta-awareness • the character displays awareness of his problems in the very act of demonstrating the problem • awareness of self-awareness creates comic relief • the existence of problems is not negated • detachment as humor is symptomatic of the condition of the narcissist

8. Freudian autobiographical subject • the past represented in analysis is both a discursive and a symbolic one • the material recollected is less a ‘pure’ past than a narrative created in the present as the subject imaginatively reworks conscious and unconscious material • it’s the present perspective of the subject that contains the key to the ‘symptoms’

9. Lacanian autobiographical subject • “What we teach the subject to recognize as his unconscious is his history – that is to say, we help him to perfect the contemporary historization of the facts which have already determined a certain number of the historical ‘turning points’ in his existence.” (23) • “psychoanalysis has only a single intermediary: the patient’s word” (The Language of the Self, 1968: 9-27)

10. the dominant self vs. the mediated self • no real relationships in Allen’s films • only projections and extensions of Allen’s persona • all the characters sound alike • they fulfill functions rather than embody attributes • all stutter • all speak in fragmented sentences and voices • the Allen persona dominates all the other characters

11. inclusion/exclusion • “there exists a perfect, ideal world that excludes the self. Yet as soon as the self is granted entrance (becomes a ‘member’ of the ‘club’), that world is depreciated.” (Schapiro, 59)

12. fantasy/real constructions • idealized fantasy vs. contemptuous self-depreciation • idealized woman vs the hyper-intellectual or morose type • good, idealized images of the self vs. bad, depreciated ones • from fantasy through the character’s imaginary ascension to the ‘real’, rather than symbolic world, the character is reduced to ‘nothing’ (See more Lacan)

13. autobiographical self-perception mediated through laughter • “genuine laughter at oneself, laughter that’s not bitter but cognizant of one’s foolishness, pretensions or insecurities can be a self-affirming and communal act in that it invites a public identification and sharing of one’s personal experience of oneself. Such laughter, as it relates to the social world, confirms rather than demeans the self.” (Schapiro, 61)

14. Radio Days (1987) • interfusions of life and art • secular religion • ordinary vs. idealized world • gods, goddesses, moral guidance, spiritual consolation and uplift, a bond of emotional and imaginative support

15. the medium is the message • arouses a strong sense of community • it offers harmonious role models • it follows up on the events • it continues with the real world • it allows for ordinary events to transcend their ordinariness • Aunt Bea wins the jackpot prize on a quiz about fish • the burglars forget what they came for, and start singing • it addresses all the senses through imagination

16. radio vs. religion • events in life are arbitrary • punishment and reward are distributed without logic and order • yet, the faithful are rewarded • faith in the radio vs faith in religion • sport vs. sermon • Marxism replaces Judaism

17. characters: Sally White • lives out the dream life that the ordinary listener can only imagine • takes things literally • naïve and gullible • has no real talent • listens to the voice of God to gain a voice (through elocution lessons)

18. Aunt Bea • in search of a soul mate • modern • extravagant • liberated • independent • believes in following trends and the mass media

19. Joey • uses his sense to their fullest • lives through the other’s experiences • has very little agency • is a representative of the typical character in search for and need of a pattern for his life • guidance in how do deal with problems • believes in the promise passed down to him through his family of a brighter life beyond the banal

20. Allen as the narrator • enforce the ‘community of diversion’ as a secular community, par excellence • plays God, but not the omnipotent one but the one that is, or reveals himself in the detail

21. theme: stability vs. transience • family vs. celebrity • family life can be warm and loving • the life of celebrity is marked by solitude and detachment

22. demystifications • the domestic life is not so warm and cozy • the flashy life of the characters on the radio is not so glamourous • life lessons: • life consists of ‘moments’ • vagaries • compromises • dissapointments

23. the emergence of the mediated self • radio days are full of radio waves • the imaginary constitution takes shape against the background of: • dream and disaster • tease and torment • frustration and desire • illumination and delusion

24. Without Feathers (1976) • series of short, first person excerpts from what purports to be Woody Allen's secret journal • the self is mediated through writing • the self IS writing • the self is a construction through, by and for writing

25. 1. person singular’s life story • paranoid and sleepless. • has health problems. • shares a ideas for stories • shares reflections on these ideas • worries about his girlfriend, W. • has failed at suicide • asks absurd questions about the afterlife • his brother beats him with a pig bladder. • is wracked with guilt for hating his father who wore a gas mask to his first play. • his nephew has some strange ailment and is covered in feathers. • decides to break off his engagement with W. • is plagued by doubts about God because of cruel and silly accidents.

26. the private vs. the public self • the “I” is a parody of himself • a humorous performance of Woody Allen, as he is perceived by the public • the “I” is perceived through the anticipation of the other’s perceptions based on shared knowledge. • the I is depicted as an absurd, hyperaware, worrying comedian subject • irony: the “I” is presented as a private self, but this work of presentation is based on the impression he’s given the world.

27. symbolism • the parrot • the pig bladder • the feathers

28. Hope is the Thing with Feathers, Dickinson • Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all, • And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. • I've heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me.