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Film and Drama in Guy Vanderhaeghe’s The Englishman’s Boy

Year 2013, Issue: 37, 79 - 97, 01.04.2013

Abstract

Canadian writer Guy Vanderhaeghe’s novel The Englishman’s Boy alternates between life on the wild frontier of Montana and Saskatchewan in the 1870s and the world of cinema in Hollywood in the 1920s in its exploration of how film and drama influence and construct the way we perceive history as it is expressed in fiction. Techniques from both genres are integrated into the novel, immersing readers in experiences from the characters’ pasts while exposing some of the limitations of examining historical fiction through any one discourse of expression. Vanderhaeghe’s novel suggests a longing to recreate rather than to represent historical experiences; it explores how a writer might bring a sense of the present moment, which is often conveyed so well in film and theater into the telling of the tale. The narrative addresses some of the challenges of writing self-reflexive fiction that investigates history, or what Linda Hutcheon calls historiographic metafiction,1 through its use of filmic and dramatic modes which are used to create a sense of immersion in two time periods that are removed from the reader’s contemporary present.

References

  • Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat. Dirs. Auguste and Louis Lumière. Lumière Brothers, 1896. Film.
  • Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Illuminations. 1955. Ed. Hannah Arendt. Trans. Harry Zorn. London: Pimlico, 1999. 211-244. Print.
  • Bergson, Henri. Matter and Memory. 1911. Trans. Nancy Margaret Paul and W. Scott Palmer. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1962. Print.
  • Blazing Saddles. Dir. Mel Brooks. Perf. Cleavon Little, Harvey Korman, Gene Wilder. Warner Bros./ Crossbow Productions, 1974. Film.
  • Calder, Alison. “Unsettling the West: Nation and Genre in Guy Vanderhaeghe’s The Englishman’s Boy.” Studies in Canadian Literature 25.2 (2000): 96-107. Print.
  • Deleuze, Gilles. Cinema 2: The Time-Image. 1985. Trans. Hugh Tomlinson and Robert Galeta. London: Athlone Press, 1989. Print.
  • The Englishman’s Boy. Dir. John N. Smith. Perf. Nicholas Campbell, Bob Hoskins, R. H. Thomson. Mind’s Eye Entertainment/ CBC, 2008. TV mini-series.
  • Foucault, Michel. Language, Counter-Memory, Practice: Selected Essays and Interviews 1963-1972. Ed. Donald F. Bouchard. Trans. Donald F. Bouchard and Sherry Simon. Oxford: Blackwell, 1977. Print.
  • Goldring, Philip. “Cypress Hills Massacre.” Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Dominica Institute. Web. 19 Aug. 2013.
  • Hutcheon, Linda. Narcissistic Narrative: The Metafictional Paradox. London: Methuen, 1980. Print.
  • Intolerance. Dir. D. W. Griffith. Perf. Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Robert Harron. 1916. Republic Pictures Home Video, 1991. Film.
  • Janes, Daniel . “Truth and History: Representing the Aura in The Englishman’s Boy.” Studies in Canadian Literature 27.1 (2002): 88-104. Print.
  • Loiperdinger, Marti . “Lumière’s Arrival of the Train: Cinema’s Founding Myth.” The Moving Image 4.1 (Spring 2004): 89-118. Print.
  • Marks, Laura U. The Skin of the Film: Intercultural Cinema, Embodiment, and the Senses. Durham and London: Duke UP, 2000. Print.
  • Nosferatu. Dir. F. W. Murnau. Perf. Max Schreck, Greta Schröder, Ruth Landshoff. Jofa-Atelier Berlin-Johannisthal, 1922. Print.
  • Robertson, Patricia. “CBC TV shoots Western mini-series.” The Globe and Mail, 21 Aug. 2006. Web. 23 Aug. 2007.
  • The Ten Commandments. Dir. Cecil B. DeMille. Perf. Theodore Roberts, Charles de Rochefort, Estelle Taylor. Famous Players/ Lasky Corporation, 1923. Film.
  • Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 1884. New York: Dover Publications, 1994. Print
  • Vanderhaeghe, Guy. The Englishman’s Boy. 1997. London: Anchor/ Transworld Publishers, 1998. Print.
  • ---. “Writing History vs. Writing the Historical Novel.” Drumlummon Views. (Spring/Summer 2006): 136-147.
Year 2013, Issue: 37, 79 - 97, 01.04.2013

Abstract

References

  • Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat. Dirs. Auguste and Louis Lumière. Lumière Brothers, 1896. Film.
  • Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Illuminations. 1955. Ed. Hannah Arendt. Trans. Harry Zorn. London: Pimlico, 1999. 211-244. Print.
  • Bergson, Henri. Matter and Memory. 1911. Trans. Nancy Margaret Paul and W. Scott Palmer. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1962. Print.
  • Blazing Saddles. Dir. Mel Brooks. Perf. Cleavon Little, Harvey Korman, Gene Wilder. Warner Bros./ Crossbow Productions, 1974. Film.
  • Calder, Alison. “Unsettling the West: Nation and Genre in Guy Vanderhaeghe’s The Englishman’s Boy.” Studies in Canadian Literature 25.2 (2000): 96-107. Print.
  • Deleuze, Gilles. Cinema 2: The Time-Image. 1985. Trans. Hugh Tomlinson and Robert Galeta. London: Athlone Press, 1989. Print.
  • The Englishman’s Boy. Dir. John N. Smith. Perf. Nicholas Campbell, Bob Hoskins, R. H. Thomson. Mind’s Eye Entertainment/ CBC, 2008. TV mini-series.
  • Foucault, Michel. Language, Counter-Memory, Practice: Selected Essays and Interviews 1963-1972. Ed. Donald F. Bouchard. Trans. Donald F. Bouchard and Sherry Simon. Oxford: Blackwell, 1977. Print.
  • Goldring, Philip. “Cypress Hills Massacre.” Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Dominica Institute. Web. 19 Aug. 2013.
  • Hutcheon, Linda. Narcissistic Narrative: The Metafictional Paradox. London: Methuen, 1980. Print.
  • Intolerance. Dir. D. W. Griffith. Perf. Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Robert Harron. 1916. Republic Pictures Home Video, 1991. Film.
  • Janes, Daniel . “Truth and History: Representing the Aura in The Englishman’s Boy.” Studies in Canadian Literature 27.1 (2002): 88-104. Print.
  • Loiperdinger, Marti . “Lumière’s Arrival of the Train: Cinema’s Founding Myth.” The Moving Image 4.1 (Spring 2004): 89-118. Print.
  • Marks, Laura U. The Skin of the Film: Intercultural Cinema, Embodiment, and the Senses. Durham and London: Duke UP, 2000. Print.
  • Nosferatu. Dir. F. W. Murnau. Perf. Max Schreck, Greta Schröder, Ruth Landshoff. Jofa-Atelier Berlin-Johannisthal, 1922. Print.
  • Robertson, Patricia. “CBC TV shoots Western mini-series.” The Globe and Mail, 21 Aug. 2006. Web. 23 Aug. 2007.
  • The Ten Commandments. Dir. Cecil B. DeMille. Perf. Theodore Roberts, Charles de Rochefort, Estelle Taylor. Famous Players/ Lasky Corporation, 1923. Film.
  • Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 1884. New York: Dover Publications, 1994. Print
  • Vanderhaeghe, Guy. The Englishman’s Boy. 1997. London: Anchor/ Transworld Publishers, 1998. Print.
  • ---. “Writing History vs. Writing the Historical Novel.” Drumlummon Views. (Spring/Summer 2006): 136-147.
There are 20 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Rebecca Waese This is me

Publication Date April 1, 2013
Published in Issue Year 2013 Issue: 37

Cite

MLA Waese, Rebecca. “Film and Drama in Guy Vanderhaeghe’s The Englishman’s Boy”. Journal of American Studies of Turkey, no. 37, 2013, pp. 79-97.

JAST - Journal of American Studies of Turkey