Psychoanalysis and Noir's American Nightmare
| dc.contributor.author | Zahariev, Albena Vladimirova | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2018-07-20T18:02:36Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2018-07-20T18:02:36Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2014 | |
| dc.description | 16 pages | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Sigmund Freud’s work on psychoanalysis offers relief from the void left by World War II and accompanying frustrations with the American Dream. In acknowledgement of Freud’s exposition of the danger of repression, noir permits the articulation of impulses repressed in the interest of war efforts through a narrative that functions as a nightmarish psychological expression. Furthermore, noir engages with Freud’s work on unconscious motives to creatively and psychoanalytically explore potential motives behind behavior considered disordered according to American principles – such as crime and self-destructive behavior. Noir demonstrates the strong influence of a disordering environment on a protagonist’s actions and motives, and promotes the value of a critically thinking “detective” who can explain disorder, encouraging the audience to fill this role themselves. Noir’s demand for active audience interpretation works in contrast to World War II war efforts, which demanded complete faith in government propaganda. In this way, noir inspires the audience to themselves challenge the feasibility of achieving the American Dream through an American work ethic, the hardboiled tradition, the ideology of individualism, and American values and traditions as a whole. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.5399/uo/ourj.7.1.2 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2160-617X | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1794/23430 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.publisher | University of Oregon | en_US |
| dc.rights | Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0-US | en_US |
| dc.subject | Psychoanalysis | en_US |
| dc.subject | Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939 | en_US |
| dc.subject | Film noir | en_US |
| dc.subject | American dream | en_US |
| dc.title | Psychoanalysis and Noir's American Nightmare | en_US |
| dc.type | Article | en_US |