Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Figuring the global
T2 - on Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York
AU - Evans, Joel Christopher
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - What might film have to say about global space? This, in essence, is the question which this paper addresses, in relation to Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York (2008). I argue that the protagonist's theatre project in the film can be read in relation to prominent conceptions of global space (which relate in particular to telecommunications systems, multinational capitalism, and the urban environment) and the implications these have for subjectivity. Rather than merely representing the global system, however, Synecdoche, New York suggests a novel way in which we might think about this, and it will be one of the aims of this discussion to uncover this. In terms of the film's form, I read this in relation to Gilles Deleuze's notion of the time-image. There is a disjointed flow of time in Synecdoche, New York, I claim, and this forms not only a link with Deleuze's writings on the cinema, but also suggests a counterpoint to the form of space outlined above. I will end by providing a further reading of the time-image, which serves to link this form back to global space, and the contemporary cultural and political situation.
AB - What might film have to say about global space? This, in essence, is the question which this paper addresses, in relation to Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York (2008). I argue that the protagonist's theatre project in the film can be read in relation to prominent conceptions of global space (which relate in particular to telecommunications systems, multinational capitalism, and the urban environment) and the implications these have for subjectivity. Rather than merely representing the global system, however, Synecdoche, New York suggests a novel way in which we might think about this, and it will be one of the aims of this discussion to uncover this. In terms of the film's form, I read this in relation to Gilles Deleuze's notion of the time-image. There is a disjointed flow of time in Synecdoche, New York, I claim, and this forms not only a link with Deleuze's writings on the cinema, but also suggests a counterpoint to the form of space outlined above. I will end by providing a further reading of the time-image, which serves to link this form back to global space, and the contemporary cultural and political situation.
KW - Synecdoche
KW - New York
KW - global
KW - time-image
KW - infinite regress
KW - immanence
KW - subjectivity
U2 - 10.1080/17400309.2014.929328
DO - 10.1080/17400309.2014.929328
M3 - Journal article
VL - 12
SP - 321
EP - 338
JO - New Review of Film and Television Studies
JF - New Review of Film and Television Studies
SN - 1740-0309
IS - 4
ER -