The grotesque in the works of Federico Fellini and Angela Carter

181 Pages·2016·3.01 MB·English

The Grotesque in the Works of
Federico Fellini
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Angela Carter
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By Maura O'Gara w
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Submitted in accoridance with the requirements for the
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Degree of Masters of Arts (Literary Studies)
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in the English Deepartment of the University of Cape Town
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Supervisor: Associate Professor Eve Bertelsen
March 1997
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The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No
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quotation from it or information derived from it is to be

published without full acknowledgeement of the source.
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The thesis is to be used for private study or non-
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commercial research purposes only.

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Published by the Universit y of Cape Town (UCT) in terms
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of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author.
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( - I , I
1 5 JAN 1998
Abstract
Chapter one of this thesis attempts to explicate and analyze the controversy that has
historically surrounded the grotesque. Contention over the grotesque has existed since the
earliest known discourses on the subject by Horace and Vitruvius. The indeterminacy and
paradoxical nature of the grotesque, which disturbed these men of antiquity, has continued
to generate debate among modern theorists such as Mikhail Bakhtin and Wolfgang Kayser
whose ideas serve as touchstones throughout this work. Understandably, theorists, who strive
to create systems of ideas which attempt to explain and define phenomena, are drawn to the
grotesque. However, they are inevitably placed in the paradoxical position of trying to
categorize something which ultimately subverts the conventional logic which underlies that
process. Furthermore, the standards of mimesis and decorum, from which the grotesque gets
its disruptive force, are subject to society. Societies provide the different conventions and
assumptions that determine the form of the grotesque. Therefore, the grotesque will always
have to be approached in its historically specific contexts of production and reception.
What becomes apparent in analysing the grotesque is that attitudes toward its
indeterminacy and paradoxical nature, which transgress the monologic binaries and implied
hierarchies of Western thought, reflect the position of the observer or producer of the
grotesque. If one espouses the cause of the low, as does Balch tin, then the indeterminacy and
paradox of the grotesque provides an egalitarian possibility for the marginalized. If one stands
with the status quo, as does Kayser, the transgressing of the definitions and distinctions which
support the status quo is experienced as frightening and sinister (Harpham, 73).
The differences noted between Kayser and Balch tin as observers of the grotesque may
also be made between Federico Fellini and Angela Carter as producers of grotesque texts.
The following two chapters of the thesis explore how the grotesque is used in Fellini 's films

(chapter two) and Carter's novels (chapter three). Carter, like Bakhtin, celebrates the
grotesque as a means of empowerment, particularly for women and her work seems to
employ the Bakhtinian theory of the carnivalesque. Fellini' s films also use images of carnival,
but Fellini, like Kayser, sees the grotesque as an isolating aspect of the human condition.
Fellini uses the grotesque only to show humanity's alienation from a knowable world,
whereas Carter uses it to demonstrate the possibilities of a totally new one. Carter appears
to take the Fellinian, Kayserian, negative attitude towards the grotesque and turn it around
for her feminist cause. She utilizes the emancipatory aspect of the grotesque inherent in its
denial of hierarchy without, however, idealizing it as Bakhtin appears to. She is well aware
that carnivals, like her novels, are author(ized).
In analyzing the continuum of Fellini's and Carter's works, both artists show an
increased dependence on the use of the grotesque combined with postmodern strategies to
support their intentions. However, the continuum of Fellini's oeuvre suggests the
development of a modernist approach which attempts closure, but faced with the impossibility
of final determinacy, turns to the quagmire of simulacra where no meaning is possible.
Carter, on the other hand, increasingly uses the grotesque and postmodern strategies not only
to reveal and deconstruct oppressive representations, but to allow agency for the
reconstruction of new subjectivities. As this thesis will demonstrate, the grotesque's
indeterminacy may provide a way to understand "reality" or the means to construct a better
one.

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my supervisor, Eve Bertelsen, for her patience, wisdom and her
exceptional method of advising which kept me guided and heartened throughout the year.
I am also grateful for the love and support of my family in the U.S. and my adopted family
of friends here in Cape Town whose companionship I cherish. A special thanks goes to
Gabeba for her erudite advice and continual encouragement.
A number of staff-members provided me with valuable materials and I extend my
appreciation to them.
The financial assistance granted me by the University is also gratefully acknowledged.

Contents
Chapter One: The Grotesque 1
Modernist Versus Realist
Chapter Two: Federico Fellini 34
From Individuation to Universalization
Chapter Three: Angela Carter 86
Chance is the Mother of Invention
Chapter Four: Conclusion 149
A Change in Dialogue
Filmography 154
Bibliography 157