From the Screen to the Stage: An Appropriation for the Stage of Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s Un Chien Andalou Based on an Analysis of the Film from the Perspective of the Spanish Literary Avant-Garde.

Diego Sosa Ortega

Research output: ThesisDoctoral Thesis

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Abstract

This thesis is formed of two components: an analysis of the film Un Chien Andalou, as seen from the Spanish literary avant-garde and an appropriation of the film for the stage.
Un Chien Andalou is one of the most discussed films amongst the surrealist cinema but most of the studies around it place it within the Surrealism practiced in France. The first component of this thesis is a careful analysis of Buñuel and Dalí’s involvment in the literary movements that developed in Spain from 1914 to 1932 and the way in which these movements had an influence in Buñuel and Dalí’s early writings.
In this first component, I argue that, while Un Chien Andalou is indeed a Surrealist film, it derives from a particular understanding of Surrealism, one that is heavily influenced by the Spanish literary avant-garde. Furthermore, this examination highlights the way in which the Spanish avant-garde, and by extension Buñuel and Dalí, understood some of the narrative tools, such as time, space, metaphor, characters, and themes. I compare these tropes, as understood by Dalí and Buñuel, to those in Un Chien Andalou.
Based on this analysis, I create a new version of Un Chien Andalou for the stage. In my theoretical piece, I show that Buñuel and Dalí’s intention was for the images not meant to signify anything. However, there is actually a carefully meditated and conscious logic behind the way in which these images are structured.
My Andalucian Dog, which is my own version of Buñuel and Dalí’s Un Chien Andalou, is a theatre piece that aims to incorporate this logic or syntax into a new story of my own device, that resonates with the original film, through this logic. The purpose of this practical piece is to bring forward Un Chien Andalou’s literary background and explore this sintax in a new medium.
In sum, this dissertation has two components. The first one is a detailed analysis of the film Un Chien Andalou by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí, from the perspective of the Spanish literary avant-garde. The second component is a version of the film intended for the stage that derives from this thorough exploration.
Original languageEnglish
QualificationPh.D.
Awarding Institution
  • Royal Holloway, University of London
Supervisors/Advisors
  • Townsend, Christopher, Supervisor
  • Rebellato, Dan, Supervisor
Thesis sponsors
Award date1 Nov 2018
Publication statusUnpublished - 2018

Keywords

  • Film to Theatre
  • Un Chien Andalou
  • Luis Buñuel
  • Salvador Dalí
  • Adaptations
  • Adaptation studies
  • Diego Sosa

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