Women and Haunted Houses in the Films of Jaume Balagueró: The Nightmares of Presence

Jaume Balagueró has developed a successful resumé of horror films that show a decided preference for the classic Gothic motif of the haunted house and the Gothic heroine who investigates its interior. This paper touches first on the Derridean concept of ‘dreams of presence’ (as theorized by cultural geographer Mitch Rose), in order to propose the ‘nightmares of presence’ in which the relationship, the call to care or commitment, between the subject and the space in which the subject dwells or moves is Gothicised but nonetheless remains to tie the subject to the space concerned. It then focuses on Balagueró’s Los sin nombre, Fragile and [REC] to consider three very different Gothic heroines: the mother of a dead daughter, a nurse in a children’s hospital, and a television reporter. The antagonistic call to care of the ‘nightmare of presence’ will be used to interrogate spatial aspects of the Gothic heroine. Keywords: Jaume Balagueró; haunted house; Spanish Gothic; Spanish horror; Spanish film Jaume Balagueró ha desarrollado un grupo de películas exitosas que demuestra una preferencia hacia el escenario clásico de lo gótico, la casa encantada tanto como la heroína gótica que la investiga. Este ensayo estudia en primer lugar el concepto derrideano de ‘los sueños de presencia’ (según la teoría de geógrafo cultural Mitch Rose), para proponer las ‘pesadillas de presencia’ en que el vínculo, la llamada a compromiso, entre el sujeto y el espacio en que se mueve o que habita, llega a ser gotizado; pero que fija al sujeto en el espacio relevante. El argumento se enfoca en Los sin nombre, Fragile y [REC] para considerar tres heroínas distintas: la madre de una hija muerta, una enfermera en un hospital para niños, y una locutora para un programa televisivo. La llamada antagonista de la pesadilla de presencia se usa para interrogar los aspectos espaciales de la heroína gótica

Pleasure and historical memory in Spanish Gothic film

This essay argues that scholars of Spanish culture are too ready to assume a reading of Gothic texts in terms of historical memory, or the rectification of injustices that occurred during the Franco era. It suggests that there has been a neglect of the question of the pleasures of reading or viewing the Gothic, even though these pleasures may well undermine the desire to do retrospective justice to the victims of Franco. Using as a case study the film Insensibles (Juan Carlos Medina 2012) this essay proposes some examples of pleasures that serve to disrupt the recuperation of historical memory, and calls for better awareness of the pleasures of genre in analysing relevant texts

The Medieval Saga

Written in the thirteenth century, the Icelandic prose sagas, chronicling the lives of kings and commoners, give a dramatic account of the first century after the settlement of Iceland—the period from about 930 to 1050. To some extent these elaborate tales are written versions of traditional sagas passed down by word of mouth. How did they become the long and polished literary works that are still read today? The evolution of the written sagas is commonly regarded as an anomalous phenomenon, distinct from contemporary developments in European literature. In this groundbreaking study, Carol J. Clover challenges this view and relates the rise of imaginative prose in Iceland directly to the rise of imaginative prose on the Continent. Analyzing the narrative structure and composition of the sagas and comparing them with other medieval works, Clover shows that the Icelandic authors, using Continental models, owe the prose form of their writings, as well as some basic narrative strategies, to Latin historiography and to French romance

The Medieval Saga

Written in the thirteenth century, the Icelandic prose sagas, chronicling the lives of kings and commoners, give a dramatic account of the first century after the settlement of Iceland—the period from about 930 to 1050. To some extent these elaborate tales are written versions of traditional sagas passed down by word of mouth. How did they become the long and polished literary works that are still read today?The evolution of the written sagas is commonly regarded as an anomalous phenomenon, distinct from contemporary developments in European literature. In this groundbreaking study, Carol J. Clover challenges this view and relates the rise of imaginative prose in Iceland directly to the rise of imaginative prose on the Continent. Analyzing the narrative structure and composition of the sagas and comparing them with other medieval works, Clover shows that the Icelandic authors, using Continental models, owe the prose form of their writings, as well as some basic narrative strategies, to Latin historiography and to French romance.Written in the thirteenth century, the Icelandic prose sagas, chronicling the lives of kings and commoners, give a dramatic account of the first century after the settlement of Iceland—the period from about 930 to 1050. To some extent these elaborate tales are written versions of traditional sagas passed down by word of mouth. How did they become the long and polished literary works that are still read today?The evolution of the written sagas is commonly regarded as an anomalous phenomenon, distinct from contemporary developments in European literature. In this groundbreaking study, Carol J. Clover challenges this view and relates the rise of imaginative prose in Iceland directly to the rise of imaginative prose on the Continent. Analyzing the narrative structure and composition of the sagas and comparing them with other medieval works, Clover shows that the Icelandic authors, using Continental models, owe the prose form of their writings, as well as some basic narrative strategies, to Latin historiography and to French romance

Haar lichaam, hijzelf; Gender in de slasher-film (II)

Inleiding Carol Clover gaat in op de identiteit van de killer en de slachtoffer-heldin, de final girl; de killer kan een man , een haai, mist of een gorilla zijn, de slachtoffer-heldin is altijd een meisje. Maar is deze vrouw een (stereotype) vrouw? Aan de hand van deze vrouwelijke slachtoffer-held bespreekt Clover de gender-problematiek, de verdeling van mannelijke en vrouwelijke stereotypen in de verbeelding van mannelijke en vrouwelijke personages. 10 02 18 54

Stan Douglas

This monograph on Douglas's work contains interviews with the artist by Thater and Cooke, a survey of the work by Watson, an essay by Clover on the Der Sandmann project, artist's writings, and an essay by Deleuze entitled "Humour, Irony and the Law." Douglas's photographs, video/film installations and works for television are looked at from the perspectives of aesthetics, politics and psychoanalysis. The following subjects are considered: sources of inspiration for specific projects; the significance of working with different mediums; binary and cinematic aspects of the work; the use of montage; the influence of Samuel Beckett. Includes chronology of exhibitions, projects, articles and interviews. Bibliography. List of illustrations. Biographical notes on artist and authors. Circa 210 bibl. ref