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12. Notes for a Reading of I Walked with a Zombie
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303 Withthis,thethirdissueofCineAction!itisbecomingclearer thatthemagazine’spositionisincertainrespectsuneasyand problematic.Wewantontheonehandtoremainaccessible—or attheleastrelativelyso(wedon’twriteforpeoplewhojustwant tobeentertained).Ontheother,wewantseriously,andwehope formidably,tochallengethecurrenttheoreticalhegemony,the structuralist/semiotic/Lacanianschool.Itdoesn’ttakemuchre- flectiontorealizehowdifficultitistodoboth.Yetthetwoundertakings arealsointerdependent:ourprimeobjectiontothe Lacanianschoolisitsapparentlyrelentlessinaccessibility,and oursensethatithaslostwhateverpoliticalthrustitoncehad by becoming increasingly hermetic, self-involved,“academic” intheworsesense.Thisnecessitatesathirdundertaking,introducing furtherproblems:torescuefromthestructuralists(they mightprefer“steal”)thoseconceptsandaspectsoftheirmethodology thatwevalue,andtryatoncetoincorporatethemin analternativesystemandrenderthemcomprehensibletointelligent readerswhohaveresistedthestructuralisthegemony. I believe myself that structuralism has revolutionized the analysis—“reading”—offilms:simplytoignorethemovement isautomaticallytorenderoneselfobsolete.Tobeoverwhelmed byit,ontheotherhand,is(assomanycaseshavedemonstrated) toloseone’sownvoiceandmuchofone’spotentialaudienceby adoptingaconvolutedjargonthatfrequentlyhastobetranslated backintoEnglishbeforeitrevealsits(oftenquitesimple) 12 NotesforaReadingofIWalkedwithaZombie 304 chapter12 meaning.7 (In certain extremist structuralist/Marxist circles, thedesiretopreserveone’sownvoicewillbeinstantlysuspect; butIthinkweneednottakeveryseriouslyaMarxismthathas neitherplacenorrespectforindividualutterance,andnotheorization ofits—Iwasgoingtowrite“validity”—necessity.Itis preciselywhenMarxismrejectsallintercoursewithhumanism thatitbecomesdangerous.)Iwantinthisarticletoappropriate certainconceptsandproceduresfromtheworkofRoland Barthes.Strictsemioticianswillfrownupontheappropriation, complainingthatIamtosomedegreedivertingtheprocedures fromtheiroriginalends,dilutingthem,andassimilatingthem intoamoretraditionalaesthetic.Butnotext,noconcept,no procedureissacrosanct:thecritichastherighttoappropriate whatevers/heneedsfromwhatevercanbefound,anduseitfor purposesperhapssomewhatdifferentfromtheoriginalones. AndifI,tosomedegree,transformBarthes,itisatleastequally truethatBarthestransformsme:itisimpossibletoadopthis methodology,inhowevermodifiedaform,withoutsimultaneously modifying(andextending)one’sown. ThetextthatinterestsmehereisS/Z.Thisisfarfrombeing thefirstattempttoapplythe“codesofrealistnarrative”tothe readingofafilm.8 Ilaynoclaimtooriginality,butneitheramI merelyimitating:bothmymethodandmyresultsaretosome degreeidiosyncratic.IshallprefacethereadingofIWalkedwith aZombie(Lewton/Tourneur,1943)withmyownaccountof whathavecometobeknownas“theBarthescodes”(though theywerehisdiscoveryratherthanhisinvention)inthehope of rendering them and the reading accessible to those who 7.AnexamplereadytohandisanessayonThePirate(“Vision,Desireandthe FilmText”)inCameraObscura6.Extremebutnotaltogetheruntypicalistheauthor ’sdefinitionofthefictionfilmas“atextualmodewhichprivilegesthescopic andtheauditory.”Translation:“Filmsareseenandheard.” 8.See,inparticular,JuliaLesage’sanalysisofLaRègleduJeuinJumpCut,preceded byJudithMayne’sexplicationofthecodes. [3.238.114.5] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 09:35 GMT) 305 havenotreadS/Z(andinthefurtherhopeofmakingthebook moreaccessibletoo).Thosealreadyfamiliar(perhapsbeyond thepointofsaturation)withBarthes’sworkcanofcourseskip, thoughtheymaywishtocheckuponmy(mis)representation ofthisdistinguishedandimportantfigure. S/Z ThemainbodyofS/ZconsistsofareadingofBalzac’snovella Sarrasine.Oneshouldfirstdistinguishbetween“reading”and themoretraditional“criticalinterpretation.”Thelatterusually startsfromthecritic’ssenseofwhatthe...