Enunciation and intertextuality in the movie The Hours, by Stephen Daldry

Author(s)

Taís de Oliveira

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2016-03-04

Examining board members

Elizabeth Harkot de La Taille; Norma Discini de Campos; Maria Giulia Dondero

• Advisor: Elizabeth Harkot de La Taille

Abstract

The movie The Hours (Stephen Daldry, 2002), a filmic adaptation of the homonymous novel by Michael Cunningham (The Hours, 1998) is analyzed within the framework of Discourse Semiotics. Our main objective is the identification of the intertextual elements and the unveiling of their role in the process of construction of meaning effects deriving from the film. The chosen corpus consists of several intertexts, since it is based on Virgina Woolfs novel Mrs. Dalloway (first published in 1925) and on Woolfs biography, providing several levels of pertinence for interpretation and thus several levels of interpretation. Its analysis is, therefore, challenging, especially regarding the level of pertinence to be adopted. The text offers different levels of production of meaning effects, which depend on the competence of the enunciatee to identify references or citations. We start with an immanent analysis, i.e. strict to the movie, based on classic semiotics methodology (GREIMAS; COURTÉS, 2008 [1979]) and on its most recent developments (ZILBERBERG, 2006 [1988]; FONTANILLE, 1995; LANDOWSKI, 2004; 2005a; 2005b). We also treat issues such as intratextuality (GREIMAS; COURTÉS, 1986) and enunciated enunciation (DONDERO, 2013a; 2013b; 2014), showing how the movie reflects itself and the literary creation process, establishing itself as a metasemiotic object (KLINKENBERG, 2000). Finally, we discuss its intertextual figures (FIORIN, 2003) and its autonomy in the process of producing meaning (DISCINI, 2004 [2001]). (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 12/24233-1 - Enunciation and intertextuality in the movie The Hours, by Stephen Daldry
• Grantee: Taís de Oliveira
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master