The medi(atis)ation of the slave experience: a journey from page to screen

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dc.check.embargoformatEmbargo not applicable (If you have not submitted an e-thesis or do not want to request an embargo)en
dc.check.infoNot applicableen
dc.check.opt-outYesen
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dc.contributor.advisorJenkins, Leeen
dc.contributor.advisorYoung, Gwendaen
dc.contributor.authorSchroeter, Caroline V.
dc.date.accessioned2019-10-03T09:05:35Z
dc.date.available2019-10-03T09:05:35Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.date.submitted2019
dc.description.abstractConsidering the increase in slave films in recent years, this interdisciplinary project explores the cross-generic development of nineteenth-century slave narratives into their contemporary cinematic iterations. Continuities and changes in the (self-) representation of African Americans are interrogated in two specific cinematic slave narratives: Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave (2013) and Nate Parker’s The Birth of a Nation (2016). My argument draws on theories of race, film analysis and intertextuality, specifically adaptation and the black tradition of Signifyin(g), to examine the network of intertexts that influences these films. Key areas considered include the representation of slavery, gender, race, the black body and sexual violence on and off screen. I also trace the conventions of the slave narrative across mediums and discuss the complex nature of authorship and authenticity. Assessing the close connection between the different narrative forms across three centuries, my research shows filmmakers of cinematic slave narratives to be modern-day mediators of the slave experience, similar to the amanuenses of their literary predecessors. This thesis therefore explores how motivations behind the production of these films reflect a recurring social phenomenon reminiscent of those underpinning nineteenth-century abolitionism and the twentieth-century Civil Rights movement. Thus, this thesis examines the effects of mediatisation on the representation of blackness and identity, as instantiated by the experiences of slavery and mediatised Othering, and the tools used to convey these to a twenty-first-century audience. This thesis demonstrates that, despite increasing historical distance, slave narratives continue to be relevant as a commemoration of the African-American experience and a commentary on slavery and its present-day legacy.en
dc.description.statusNot peer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Version
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationSchroeter, C. V. 2019. The medi(atis)ation of the slave experience: a journey from page to screen. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/8685
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherUniversity College Corken
dc.rights© 2019, Caroline V. Schroeter.en
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/en
dc.subjectAmerican literatureen
dc.subjectAmerican filmen
dc.subjectSignifyin(g)en
dc.subjectOtheringen
dc.subjectAfrican Americanen
dc.subjectAmerican studiesen
dc.subjectSlaveryen
dc.subjectRepresentationen
dc.subjectMediatisationen
dc.subjectSlave narrativesen
dc.subjectRaceen
dc.subjectIndependent filmen
dc.subjectRace and genderen
dc.subjectAdaptationen
dc.subjectIntertextualityen
dc.subjectIntertextual theoryen
dc.subjectBlack filmen
dc.subjectIntersectionalityen
dc.subjectFilm studiesen
dc.thesis.opt-outtrue
dc.titleThe medi(atis)ation of the slave experience: a journey from page to screenen
dc.typeDoctoral thesisen
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoralen
dc.type.qualificationnamePhDen
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