A Journey Through Wanderweg: the Cinematic Space of Deleuze and Guattari in the Reflexive Road Movie
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Date
2013
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Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Abstract
This paper addresses a modern trend within the road movie genre, where reflexive imagery is utilized as a mechanism of storytelling. Within the “reflexive road movie,” the reflexive space and the road movie space are cinematically contrastive to each other. The road movie provides a cinematic space for the protagonist to explore cultural, societal, and personal boundaries, perpetually moving towards an unreachable horizon. Reflexivity, on the other hand, consistently reminds the viewers of the technical and conceptual means of production, forcing the viewer (and the film itself) to reference its own borders and form. Thus, reflexivity obstructs the traditional motion within the road movie space.
In order to conceptualize this claim, this thesis appears in two parts: the theoretical and the artistic. Theoretically, this study draws from Deleuze and Guattari’s concepts of (de)territorialization and Deleuze’s movement-image and time-image. Artistically, this study references an original film, titled Wanderweg (2013), which was created as a means of visually illustrating the theoretical conclusions of this study. Together, the theoretical and artistic components of this thesis examine how reflexivity spatially positions itself within a road movie.