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This article has been published in: Ocula 21, Geosemiotics: from locative media to diffused images, big and small data

author: Giorgio Avezzù (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano (IT))

Homotopic interference and locational noir imaging. A geocritical reflection on disturbing spaces in cinema starting from Black Dahlia

language: italian

abstract: This paper aims at offering a geocritical exploration of cinema starting from The Black Dahlia (Brian De Palma,
2006) and retracing the tradition of the noir film genre, taking into consideration the peculiar relations between this genre and “real” spaces and geographies. The question of Hollywood cinema representing Hollywood itself (and Los Angeles) will be considered in order to verify a fundamental difference between how “disturbing spaces” are constructed in cinema and in literature. While the geocritical approach to the study of literature usually maintains that similar “interfering” spaces are (de)constructed through “heterotopic” strategies, the case of noir film genre shows how cinema – a very singular locative medium – can effectively rely on “homotopic” strategies, instead.

citation information: Giorgio Avezzù, Interferenza omotopica e locational imaging noir. Una riflessione geocritica sugli spazi disturbanti nel cinema a partire da Black Dahlia, "Ocula", vol.20, n.21, pp.71-88, December 2019. DOI: 10.12977/ocula2019-23

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