Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Oxford Handbook of Silent Cinema |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Pages | 618-638 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| ISBN (electronic) | 9780190496715 |
| ISBN (print) | 9780190496692 |
| Publication status | Published - 22 Feb 2024 |
Abstract
This chapter explores the temporal dimensions of serial storytelling in the silent film serial both on a structural level and as a plot contrivance. It approaches the silent serial as a unique cinematic mode with its very own conventions and practices, rather than a mere preparation for feature-film storytelling, and it focuses on the paradigmatically serial device of the cliffhanger. The chapter investigates the "pre-cliffhanger" serial The Hazards of Helen (1914-1917), in comparison to the cliffhanger serial A Woman in Grey (1920). Both serials revolve around "serial queens" and both draw heavily on temporally inflected narrative formulas such as the "last-minute rescue" or the chase, and they do so in ways that differ from the practices of the feature film. At the same time, these serials participate in a more pervasive cultural renegotiation of time and temporality, taking issue with the time politics of industrial modernity at large.
Keywords
- Cliffhangers, Film serials, Modernity, Serial queens, Temporality
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- General Social Sciences
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The Oxford Handbook of Silent Cinema. Oxford University Press, 2024. p. 618-638.
Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceeding › Contribution to book/anthology › Research › peer review
}
TY - CHAP
T1 - Running late
T2 - The Silent Serial, the Clihanger, and the Exigencies of Time, 1914–1920
AU - Mayer, Ruth
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Oxford University Press 2024. All rights reserved.
PY - 2024/2/22
Y1 - 2024/2/22
N2 - This chapter explores the temporal dimensions of serial storytelling in the silent film serial both on a structural level and as a plot contrivance. It approaches the silent serial as a unique cinematic mode with its very own conventions and practices, rather than a mere preparation for feature-film storytelling, and it focuses on the paradigmatically serial device of the cliffhanger. The chapter investigates the "pre-cliffhanger" serial The Hazards of Helen (1914-1917), in comparison to the cliffhanger serial A Woman in Grey (1920). Both serials revolve around "serial queens" and both draw heavily on temporally inflected narrative formulas such as the "last-minute rescue" or the chase, and they do so in ways that differ from the practices of the feature film. At the same time, these serials participate in a more pervasive cultural renegotiation of time and temporality, taking issue with the time politics of industrial modernity at large.
AB - This chapter explores the temporal dimensions of serial storytelling in the silent film serial both on a structural level and as a plot contrivance. It approaches the silent serial as a unique cinematic mode with its very own conventions and practices, rather than a mere preparation for feature-film storytelling, and it focuses on the paradigmatically serial device of the cliffhanger. The chapter investigates the "pre-cliffhanger" serial The Hazards of Helen (1914-1917), in comparison to the cliffhanger serial A Woman in Grey (1920). Both serials revolve around "serial queens" and both draw heavily on temporally inflected narrative formulas such as the "last-minute rescue" or the chase, and they do so in ways that differ from the practices of the feature film. At the same time, these serials participate in a more pervasive cultural renegotiation of time and temporality, taking issue with the time politics of industrial modernity at large.
KW - Cliffhangers
KW - Film serials
KW - Modernity
KW - Serial queens
KW - Temporality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85199594742&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190496692.013.28
DO - 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190496692.013.28
M3 - Contribution to book/anthology
AN - SCOPUS:85199594742
SN - 9780190496692
SP - 618
EP - 638
BT - The Oxford Handbook of Silent Cinema
PB - Oxford University Press
ER -