Theatres of Human Sacrifice

Mark Pizzato

Description

Contemporary debates about mass media violence tend to ignore the long history of staged violence in the theatres and rituals of many cultures. In Theatres of Human Sacrifice, Mark Pizzato relates the appeal and possible effects of screen violence todayin sports, movies, and television newsto specific sacrificial rites and performance conventions in ancient Greek, Aztec, and Roman culture. Using the psychoanalytic theories of Lacan, Kristeva, and Zðizûek, as well as the theatrical theories of Artaud and Brecht, the book offers insights into the ritual lures and effects of current mass media spectatorship, especially regarding the pleasures, purposes, and risks of violent display. Updating Aristotle's notion of catharsis, Pizzato identifies a sacrificial imperative within the human mind, structured by various patriarchal cultures and manifested in distinctive rites and dramas, with both positive and negative potential effects on their audiences.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PROLOGOS

Tragedy in Melodrama
Theatre's Material Ghosts and Gods
Ethical Edges
A Sacrificial Imperative

PART ONE: CATHARSIS BETWEEN SACRIFICIAL CULTURES

1. Blood Sacrifice in Ancient Greece and Aztec America

Theatre within Ritual
Transcendental Savagery
Altar-Egos and Body Parts
From Solar to Proscenium Mirrors
The Bottom of the Frame
Animistic Psychology, Puppetry, and Dancing Hearts
Cathartic Encounters with the Real

2. Roman, Aztec, and NFL "Gladiators"

Sacrificial Shades
The Metaphysics of Script and Score
Im-mortal Dances, Costumes, and Props
Star Powers
Audience Participation and Alienation
Melodramatic or Tragic Catharsis

PART TWO: SCREENING REAL MONSTERS

3. Choral Edges in Frankenstein and Natural Born Killers

A Monstrous Gaze
Slices of Space and Time
Edges of Communion in Frankenstein
Violence in the House
Cruel Affect and A-Effect as Cathartic Cures
Choral Born Killers
Male and Female Monsters

4. Brechtian and Aztec Violence in Zoot Suit

Patriarchal Sacrifices
Brechtian Ixiptla Onscreen
Audience Effects of the Perverse Superego

5. Martyrs and Scapegoats in the Films of Scorsese and Coppola

Body and Blood Offerings
Between Animal and Divine
Lucifer Within
Sacrifices That Cannot Be Refused
The Sympathetic Inheritance of Evil
Postmodern Flower War

EXODOS

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Sujets

• Popular culture
• History of film

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 18 novembre 2004
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791484234
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

m a r k p i z z a t o

THEATRES OF HUMAN SACRIFICE f rom a ncient r i t ua l t o s cr een violence

Theatres of Human Sacrifice

SUNY series in Psychoanalysis and Culture

Henry Sussman, editor

T H E A T R E S O F

H U M A N S A C R I F I C E

From Ancient Ritual to Screen Violence

M A R K P I Z Z AT O

S T AT E U N I V E R S I T Y O F N E W Y O R K P R E S S

Published by S TATE U NIVERSITY OF N EW Y ORK P RESS A LBANY

© 2005 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production, Laurie Searl Marketing, Susan Petrie

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pizzato, Mark, 1960– Theatres of human sacrifice : from ancient ritual to screen violence / Mark Pizzato. p. cm. — (SUNY series in psychoanalysis and culture) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-6259-5 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-6260-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Violence in motion pictures. 2. Violence in popular culture. I. Title. II. Series.

PN1995.9.V5P59 2004 791.43'6552—dc22

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2003070444

to my father

John Frank (Gianfranco) Pizzato

and my uncle

Anthony J. Catalano

who taught me the meaning

of making choices

in sacrifice

and

to my friend

Tullio Maranhão

who helped me find insight

in the crossing of cultures

may his crossing to the other world also be

enlightening

A CKNOWLEDGMENTS

P ROLOGOS

O NE

T WO

Contents

Tragedy in Melodrama Theatre’s Material Ghosts and Gods Ethical Edges A Sacrificial Imperative

P ART I: C ATHARSIS BETWEEN S ACRIFICIAL C ULTURES

Blood Sacrifice in Ancient Greece and Aztec America

Theatre within Ritual Transcendental Savagery Altar-Egos and Body Parts From Solar to Proscenium Mirrors The Bottom of the Frame Animistic Psychology, Puppetry, and Dancing Hearts Cathartic Encounters with the Real

Roman, Aztec, and NFL “Gladiators”

Sacrificial Shades The Metaphysics of Script and Score Im-mortal Dances, Costumes, and Props

ix

1

21

47

F OUR

viii

F IVE

77

Star Powers Audience Participation and Alienation Melodramatic or Tragic Catharsis

T HREE

Brechtian and Aztec Violence inZoot Suit

in the Films of Scorsese and Coppola

Body and Blood Offerings Between Animal and Divine Lucifer Within Sacrifices That Cannot Be Refused The Sympathetic Inheritance of Evil Postmodern Flower War

179

185

253

E XODOS

Martyrs and Scapegoats

I NDEX

125

111

T H E AT R E S O F H U M A N S A C R I F I C E

Choral Edges inFrankenstein andNatural Born Killers

P ART II: S CREENING R EAL M ONSTERS

Patriarchal Sacrifices BrechtianIxiptlaOnscreen Audience Effects of the Perverse Superego

N OTES

A Monstrous Gaze Slices of Space and Time Edges of Communion inFrankenstein Violence in the House Cruel Affect and A-Effect as Cathartic Cures Choral Born Killers Male and Female Monsters

227

B IBLIOGRAPHY

Acknowledgments

Parts of chapters 1, 3, and 4 were previously published inEthnologie und Insze- nierung: Ansätze zur Theaterethnologie,ed. Bettina E. Schmidt and Mark Münzel (Marburg: Förderverein Völkerkunde, 1998); inSpectator16.2 (Spring/Summer 1996); and in theJournal of Popular Film and Television26.2 (Summer 1998). Special thanks to my colleagues who read (or heard) various parts of this book and gave their advice: Harvey Greenberg, Dale Grote, Jane Hoehner, Tony Jackson, Gary Maciag, Tullio Maranhão, Angelo Restivo, Catherine Rice, Teresa Scheid, and Judith Sebesta. Thanks also to the editors and read- ers at SUNY Press, especially James Peltz and Laurie Searl. Although Herbert Blau did not advise me on this book, I continue to be influenced by his gen- erous advice on my work as a graduate student a decade ago. I must also thank my sons, Luke and Peter, for their indulgence as I spent many hours at the computer screen, working on this opus rather than playing with them. Such sacrifices were not easy; I hope they value the result. Writ- ing this book certainly helped me to work through the legacy of sacrifice in my own childhood, so as not to repeat it unaware.

ix