The Liminal and the Surreal: The Space of Limbo and Dreams in Luis Bunuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

Authors

  • Miniature Malekpour The Australian National University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2021.342

Keywords:

Surrealism, Bunuel cinema, liminal, dreams, limbo

Abstract

This study explores the role of liminality and Surrealism in Luis Bunuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. By taking into consideration the relationship between Surrealism, Marxism and Freud, this paper identifies the role of the liminal and Bunuel’s treatment of these topics. The purpose of this study is to examine the use of liminal space and Surrealism to identify the role of the bourgeois and their fears through the lens of Bunuel.

References

Balakian, A. (1959) The Surrealist Object. In Surrealism: The Road to the Absolute, 170–209. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Company Ltd.

Baxter, J. (2016) The Persistence of Surrealism: Memory, Dreams, and the Dead.” In S. Gross (Ed.) Memory in the Twenty-First Century: New Critical Perspectives from the Arts, Humanities, and Sciences (pp. 51-56). London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Breton, A. (1972) Manifestoes of Surrealism. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Breton, A. (1978) What is Surrealism? Selected Writings, edited by Franklin Rosemont. New York: Monad Press.

Breton, A. (2002) Surrealism and Paintings. ArtWORKS ed. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts.

Breton, A. (2012) Theories of the Avant-Garde Theatre: A Casebook from Kleist to Camus. ed. Bert Cardullo. Scarecrow Press, p.120.

Durgant, R. (1975). The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. Film Comment 11(3): 52.

Freud, S. (2010) The Interpretation of Dreams: The Complete and Definitive Text.

Hubert, R. (1992) Surrealism and the Book. Reprint ed. Berkeley: University of California Press,

Jones, J. (1999) The Picaro in Paris: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and the Picaresque Tradition. Journal of Film and Video, 51(1), 42–55.

Klaniczay, G., and É. Pócs. (2005) eds. Communicating with the Spirits. Vol. 1 of Demons, Spirits, Witches. Budapest: Central European University Press.

Kovacs, S. (1972) The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie by Luis Bunuel. Review of The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, by Luis Buñuel. Film Quarterly. 26(2), 14-17.

Klaus, R. S. (2016). Surrealism, Communism, and the Pursuit of Revolution. Black & Gold, 2(1), https://openworks.wooster.edu/blackandgold/vol2/iss1/1.

Marx, K. (1994) The Communist Manifesto. In L. H. Simon (ed.) Karl Marx: Selected Writings. Indianapolis: Hackett.

McShane, M. (2000). Exquisite Corpses: Representations of Violence in the Collective Surrealist Unconscious. Paroles gelées, 18(2), 87–98.

Noll, R., Achterberg, J., Bourguignon, E., George, L., Harner, M., Honko, L., ... & Winkelman, M. (1985). Mental imagery cultivation as a cultural phenomenon: The role of visions in shamanism [and comments and reply]. Current Anthropology, 26(4), 443-461.

Osborne, J. (2016) Pierce, Deleuze and the Play of Perception in Luis Buñuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.” Self-published, ResearchGate. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.1839.0646.

Reuben, A. (2017). Surrealism’s Freudian Foundation. Self-published, Academia.edu.

Rivere, J. (2009). Deaths, Dreams and the Disorderly Dead: Liminality and the Discernment of Spirits in Early Modern England. In W. A. Christian, Jr. and G. Klaniczay (Eds.) The “Vision Thing”: Studying Divine Intervention, (101–134). Collegium Budapest Workshop Series.

Schmitt, J.C. (1994). Ghosts in the Middle Ages: The Living and the Dead in Medieval Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Szakolczai, A. (2009). Liminality and Experience: Structuring Transitory Situations and Transformative Events. International Political Anthropology, 2(1), 141–172.

Taylor, S. W. and M. Polizzotti. (2002) Surrealism and Painting. Boston, MA: MFA Pub, Print.

Turner, V. (1967). The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Williams, R. (2016) Psychoanalysis. Magill’s Medical Guide, Ipswich, Massachusetts: Salem Press. Gale Virtual Reference Library, Research Starter.

Downloads

Published

2021-07-14

How to Cite

Malekpour, M. (2021). The Liminal and the Surreal: The Space of Limbo and Dreams in Luis Bunuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. CINEJ Cinema Journal, 9(1), 320–345. https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2021.342

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 1 (2021): Spring 2021

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
  2. Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
  3. The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
    1. Attribution—other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;
    with the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
  4. The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  5. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a prepublication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
  6. Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
  7. The Author represents and warrants that:
    1. the Work is the Author’s original work;
    2. the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
    3. the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
    4. the Work has not previously been published;
    5. the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
    6. the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
  8. The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.

Revised 7/16/2018. Revision Description: Removed outdated link.