Beyond Propp and Oedipus : Towards expanding narrative theory

Aspects o f theory surrounding both narrative and reception o f film is examined and interrogated. The structural analysis offered by Propp, among other theorists, and insights o f psychoanalysis are considered to rework the Oedipal scenario. This paper draws on ideas around transgression and refers to aspects of Oedipus’s life which are largely ignored as the focus o f psychic scenario. The narratives o f two films. On the Wire and Mississippi Masala are examined in relation to contradictions surrounding their reception.

Mississippi Masala w on an a w a rd a t th is y e a r's V en ic e F ilm F estiv a l fo r its d e s c rip tio n o f a relatio n sh ip b etw e en an E a st Indian girl and a n A fro -A m erica n y outh.T h e film h as to u c h e d a raw nerve in T rin id ad , w hich has a large H in d u pop u latio n .
L ast w eek , an u n n a m e d g ro u p se n t a le tte r to a H in d u le a d e r S a n a ta n D h a r m a M a h a S ab h a saying th a t it w ould plant an explosive device a t th e M o n arch cin em a in T u n a P u n a , w h ere th e film is sch ed u led to o p en at th e end o f th e m onth (S teen, 1990:33, in Hollywood Reporter).
Extracts of reviews: On the Mre The selected extracts of reviews present different spectatorial responses to the sam e films.
The reviews of Mississippi Masala recount strong, hostile responses by H indu groups and black spectators in Kenya and US for different reasons.Sally Scott's review of On the Wire similarly is dismissive of this film in sharp contrast to the review presented in Variety.The films do not fulfil the expectations and presuppositions about narrative en tertain ed by those who reject these film s.R eje c tio n of the film also does not coincide with the intentions of the producers o f these films.To consider film spectatorship in som e of its complexities, I intend to interrogate notions of narrative and m ainstream film reception by examining narrative structures, structures that fit very easily into common explanations of patriarchal and O edipal scenarios.By expanding approaches to narrative, one attem pts a prism of alternative narrative structures to consider these films in their refusal to offer closure in the anticipated manner.I do not intend a critique of these films, but am using them to illustrate the need to expand a repertoire for narrative analysis of film.
Fem inist film theory and the psychoanalytic film theory on which it has d epended have offered very im portan t insights for critical film practice.Largely based on L acanian articulations of a Freudian position, the narrative structure of mainstream cinema has been deem ed to o perate in a particu lar way.The continual rew orking of the m ale O edipal scenario has been un d ersto o d to u n d e rlie m ost m ain stream texts.Two recen t film s directed by women and essentially with fem ale protagonists, namely Mississippi Masala directed by M ira N air in the USA in 1991 and On the Wire d irected by South A frican Elaine Proctor in 1991, are among those that do not set such a scenario in motion.Apart from both having fem ale protagonists, the type o f characters p ortrayed are uncom m on protagonists in m ainstream cinema, on one hand an A frik an erplaasmeisie who tries to fit into the m ores of her narrow com m unity; on the o th er a protag o n ist who is Indian by parentage and is part of an exile culture, born in Africa, grown up in the UK and USA (and never in India), she describes h e rse lf as a "masala", "a bunch of mixed spices".Both protagonists deal with problems of alienation or 'otherness' in contexts seldom explored by mainstream cinema.
It is my intention to consider the debates about narrative, feminist film theory and practice by referring to these films.While I do not assume that these film makers' singular intention was to produce fem inist film treatises, the films appear to have shared characteristics in that both are atypical of mainstream cinematic texts in their inscription and discourses and in that they were made in a critical spirit.They offer useful texts to consider issues raised by feminist film theory and, consequently, any critical film theory and practice.
Firstly I shall look at those aspects of film theory surrounding the study of narrative in m ainstream film in order to examine its relevance for these films.This will indicate how these film s w ork by the transgression of im plicit cinem atic codes.By exam ining the connections and insights offered by psychoanalytic film and narrative theory, suggested expansions pertaining to psychoanalytic scenarios will attem pt to advocate a renewed look at narrative forms that offer alternative spectatorial positions.Analysis of the nature of the narrative offered by these films will illustrate aspects of these theoretical proposals.

Theories around narrative and film
A n arrativ e is a chain o f events in cause-effect relatio n sh ip o ccu rrin g in tim e. Bordwell's description offers a position from which we can begin to examine film narrative and which enables narrative to be seen structurally with what constitutes the beginning, the middle section and the ending.Also, crucial to such an understanding of narrative is the notion of cause and effect within this structured action, and of characters as the movers of the action, the force that directs and motivates this chain of events.
This understanding o f the linear narrative has been developed diversely by structurahst theorists.Todorov describes the narrative process as beginning at a point of equilibrium which is a point of order, of plenitude, of fulfilment.Early in the narrative, this state is disrupted by some event, crisis or power, thereby creating a disequilibrium.The course of the narrative then is caught up in the attem pt to correct the disequilibrium or to deal with the disruption and its effects.The conclusion of the narrative is m arked by the restoration o f a state o f equilibrium m arking its closure and which is never q uite the sam e as the original state, but similar to it.

Propp; Structural similarity in narrative
P roppian functions sim ilarly offer a lin ear story.V ladim ir P ro p p 's Morpholgy o f the Folktale was first published in 1928, although translated into English only in 1958.His initial aim was a fairly modest one.He chose to analyse the Russian folktale in an attem pt to establish a reliable system for their classification.Consequently, Propp ignored the content of the hundred folktales he analyzed and concentrated solely on the latent form.For Propp a 'function' describes a single action, (not a literal event) with a specified role in the narrative development.While it becomes obvious that Propp placed more emphasis on action than on character, he does also categorize characters in term s o f th eir sphere of 'function' within the narrative.D isregarding their personal qualities, the hero becomes identifiable by the sphere of action he inhabits, namely the hero goes on a quest.This sphere of action forms the second of the basic structural com ponents.Propp established seven ch a ra c te r functions in all, consisting of the villain, d o n o r o r p rovider, h elper, princess, dispatcher, hero or victim and false hero.
Propp concluded that "functions o f characters serve as stable, constant elem ents in a tale, independent of how and by whom they are told" (1958:30-39).Propp found that he was able to distill these narrative events to thirty-one.He noted that certain kinds of functions always occurred at the same stage of the story, for example the interdiction always near the beginning (com pare T odorov's disruption), w hereas the villain would only be punished towards the conclusion.Furtherm ore certain functions always occurred in twos and threes.Thus he concluded that, while allowing for interlinking incidents and omission of functions, or repetitions of functions, that "the sequence of events is always identical".Finally, he concluded that despite th eir m ultiform ity, "all fairy tales a re o f one type in regard to structure " (1958:30-9).
Propp confined his analysis to the Russian folk tale but he did suggest that it was possible that these narrative forms, ostensibly stylized and primitive, might have the same arm ature as the modern realist texts  M etz argues th a t conventional use of cinem atic language w ithin film n arrative m akes discours difficult.O bscuring devices of co nstruction produces a p a rtic u la r relatio n betw een spectator and text.Psychoanalytic film theorists (including Mulvey in "Visual P leasure and N arrativ e Cinem a" w ritten in 1973 and M etz in his classic study o f film spectatorship, "The Im aginary Signifier" first published in 1975) have argued th at the rhetoric of cinem atic language is analogous to the rhetoric of dreams or the Unconscious, and th a t the cinem atic narratives set in play a form of subjectivity th a t relates to the subject's own formation as a gendered being.Because of the phallocentric nature inherent in p a tria rc h a l cultures, th is m etap h o rical psychoanalytic m odel provides us with an understanding of gendered behaviour.It has to be em phasized that the W om an is desig nated as an absence or lack, since she does not possess the phallus and, consequently, as the 'O ther'.This approach further posits that during the acquisition of language and the constitution of th e subject, certain repressions occur and form th e U nconscious.The Freudian notions of the id, the ego and the superego come into play here.The superego (the introjection of the idealized parental figures) act as censor, repressing any unconscious ideas that will threaten the ego-ideal, the Unconscious being the price exacted for language and human culture.
D uring the viewing o f the film, identification with any and all of th ese th ree levels of subjectivity is possible.T h at this is not experienced as fragm ented or th reatening is accounted for by the notion of suture.The filmic narration, operating as histoire, as Metz described, leaves the position of the narrator open.During the viewing process, the spec tato r becom es caught up in the film 's enunciation and becom es the subject-in-the-text.This implies a dynamic process in which the spectator is continually repositioned.The idea of suture incorporates the spectator's attem pts to create a whole image and to sew up the gaps.A ccording to Lacanian theorists, th ere is a constant interplay in our psychic life betw een the imaginary and the symbolic.Suture is the attem p t of the subject, or m ore precisely, of the ego, to sew up the gaps betw een the id and the superego and to impose unity on the operating, conflicting forces of the U nconscious.T hese w ould otherw ise jeopardize a stable or coherent identity.Ĉ inem atic narrative is then argued to construct the subjectivity of the spectator in the same way in w hich the subject is p roduced.Specularity is caught up w ithin th e L acanian categories of the m irror stage and the O edipal scenario which then finds its continual replaying in different guises within narrative cinema.
T he psychic drives held to account for the continued spectatorship of films, particularly scopophilia which relates to the pleasure of looking, are constantly played on by cinema.Looking involves a condition in which the spectator is situated and determ ines the position taken up in the identificatory processes.

s. Towards a synthesis: Proppian Oedipus
Psychoanalytic film theory has examined cinematic texts and found the O edipal scenario to be a dom inant cultural them e.Sim ilarly, the P ro p p ian m odel has been found to be appropriate to examine mainstream film texts.
The contention offered here is that the thirty-one narrative functions also incorporate the O edipal trajectory.In o rd er to employ the P roppian functions in term s o f the tale of O edipus, one can look at the organization of these functions in term s of the groupings: p re p a ra tio n , com plication, tran sferen ce, struggle, re tu rn , recognition.T h e O edipal scenarios hinge on the boy child becoming aw are o f him self as separate from his m other (preparation) and his need to prove him self as not a child (complication) and, in order to reach maturity, to separate from his m other (transference), and through struggle, to be able to return and gain recognition for his achievements, which are rewarded by m arriage to the woman who is not his m other, but who m akes good the lack of the m other.Consider the following Proppian functions: These narrative functions describe what Lacan identifies as the Imaginary and the Symbolic scenarios.The hero has to separate himself from the m other, see himself as separate from her. T he functions described as the Transference and Struggle deal with the testing and development of maturity that enables the hero to establish him.selfas the m ature adult who again possesses the phallus and the woman whom he desires.This trajectory forms the core of the narrative as perceived by Propp and it is unsurprising that the psychoanalytic understandings fit the mainstream narratives so well.
Psychoanalysis informs the study of narrative in two ways: T he notion o f the return of the repressed is basic to Freud's thinking.Narrative acts as a containm ent of the id, but allows it to be exercised, to return before its control, before the closure o f the narrative.A t the beginning of the narrative, there is a state of plenitude.The th reat occurs, the disruption of order is created by the power of an evil force, understood to be retained psychically by the id.This force is able to threaten, to becom e fearful and pow erful, and th e spectatorial desire is for this to be c o n tain ed ; by th e conclusion o f n arrativ es o f th e type u n d er discussion the closure gestures tow ards this containm ent, freq u en tly with reference to moral or higher powers (superego), o f a return to 'norm ality' and a return of the id to its repressed.It is im portant to recall that Freud saw this replaying of O edipal scenarios not simply as n eu ro tic bu t m ain ta in e d th a t th e O e d ip a l sce n ario was n e v er com p letely perfected, especially in the case of w om en who have to sep a rate from the m other, the primal love object, yet also identify with her and strive to be like her.
F urtherm ore, the concept o f the repetition com pulsion (beyond the Pleasure Principle), suggests a bid for mastery.Texts are understood characteristically as economies of repetit ion and variation, involving similarity and difference, symmetry and asymmetry, which aim to establish mastery over the lack.
W hat is perhaps even m ore interesting is the fact that this trajectory is replayed with such alacrity and frequency in our cultural texts.The social and psychic need to rehearse, to re enact, this scenario is considered to result from its unsuccessful operation for the spectators w hose lives are engaged by th e O edipal crisis.In h eren t in th e psychoanalytic u n d er standing is the challenge to the father and the overthrowing of a situation where the child is pow erless, through struggle and testing in o rd er to take on this m ature role.Also the notion of the id is crucial to explaining the phatic aspect of the film's narrative.
The Proppian description of narrative functions fits num erous texts.These are particular types of texts and serve similar cultural functions.By considering the conservative function of the folk-tale in teaching societal norms, expectations and social morality, Propp offers an explanation of the role that these narratives serve culturally.The replaying of the Oedipal myth also coagulates around patriarchal law, about the acquisition of property and power and exchange of women.But it is not suggested th at all narratives fit this model.It is precisely when the fit betw een film narrative and these models is uncom fortable o r non existent, th at the narrative becomes interesting as a critical practice.C onsideration of certain notions offered by Barthes surrounding narrative enable these ideas to be extended.
Barthes' ideas in S /Z (1975) are dissimilar to the formalist analysis of Propp.His interest in n arrativ e lead s him to exam ine the codes, which he suggests are in h e re n t in the narrative, that entice the reader through its trajectory.O f the five codes of signification he described, two particularly relate to narrative development, namely the proiaretic or a a io n codes and the herm eneutic o r enigm a codes.Like the analysis offered by Propp they function linearly.
The hermeneutic codes relate to the mystery and suspense invoked and refer to the amount of know ledge th at is av ailable to the sp ectato r, and the g rad u al allowing o f g re a te r kn ow ledg e u n til th e d isclo su re by th e c o n clu sio n .T h e en ig m as can b e d elayed, com plicated and have m inor resolutions on their passage to the final disclosure.O ne can use the herm eneutic/en igm a codes to chart the linear progression o f the narrative.In contrast, I w ould consider those aspects focused upon by the P roppian n arrative as the action codes; they deal with the successful com pletion of the m ission o r quest.The p ro iaretic or action codes seem to me to offer a m ore a p p ro p riate tool of analysis for ce rta in n arrativ es.P ro p p 's n arrativ e functions focus on p a rtic u la r actions and thus correspond to these action codes (and dare I say it), and those th at characterize the male genres o f action films like W esterns, adventure, war and those of the K ung-fu/R am bo variety.N ot all theorists have been satisfied with the Proppian model.Davies (1978) points to problems using this form of narrative analysis when she examined The Big Sleep, a forties film noir film with a narrative that focused on the private dick's investigation.
Propp and proiaretic codes are useful when dealing precisely with the replaying of the male O edipal scenario, yet are less appropriate when the codes being activated are hermeneutic.W hen the enigm a codes are the dominant ones, Proppian analysis and accordingly notions around the male Oedipal scenario cease their easy fit.
W hat becomes interesting for me in attem pting to consider this in term s of fem inist film theory, is that num erous m ainstream narratives circulate this particular discourse which rep eats and naturalizes discourse around p atriarch al laws, b u t they fail to provide an effective arm ature to hang the narrative on as soon as the narrative does not replay this dominant discourse.Then it is about as useful as a rusty colander for carrying water.
This O edipal scenario is replayed constantly in the m edia, from the news to film to folk tales.W hat is apparent is that this need to rehearse finally relates to the lack of success of closure, to the excess that is uncontained and th at escapes control.Essentially, this re en actm en t suggests th at we have a p a tria rch a l discourse th a t needs replaying; it also suggests that there are other powerful discourses operating.
I would like to consider the notion th at has been suggested that if we are to use psychic m etaphors and explanations, there could be oth er aspects of the psychic scenario beyond this O edipal one that are also fascinating, as fascinating as the O edipal trajectory which is never successfully negotiated.
It is precisely those narratives th at exclude the Proppian, O edipal and proiaretic oriented plot w here interesting ideas can be examined.In those m entioned, the masculine bias is overriding: the narrative cen tres aro u n d a m ale p ro tag o n ist.T he p ro ia re tic code is activated around a man, the herm eneutic code frequently revolves around the woman, her mystery, and frequently the discontent that she activates.Woman plays an ambiguous role.
Initially she is both the problem and the disruption: in film the woman acts as the principle signifier of male anxieties; she fails to fit into the m ale world, she destabilizes the male identity and presents the threat of castration.C ontrol of the woman can be achieved in a num ber of ways: punishm ent can include being raped or disfigured (m inor characters in Klute, The Big Heat), she can be m urdered {Fatal Attraction, Lady from Shanghai) or she can be subdued (Klute) and position herself as subordinate to the m an and provide the solution for the male protagonist, as the woman who m akes good the lack.This woman also then accepts the role as partner/m other.This, Mulvey argued, has direct consequences for the spectator in term s of gender.The sexual politics of narrative visualization generally present woman as the image and man as the bearer of the look.T here is the further active/passive division of labour which controls the narrative structure prem ised on the active male and the passive female.The gaze is directed tow ards the woman both by the m ale spectators in the film and the spectators.
The resulting presentation of woman as the object of the gaze is considered by the male not pleasurable, but as threatening, re-invoking the castration anxiety initially provoked in the O edipal scenario.A m eans of coping with this is explained by Freud by th e process of fetishism, in which the lack is disavowed and placed onto som ething else.This manifests itself in the instances of sheer spectacle in which parts of the women o r their clothes are fetishized and which in fact works against narrative flow.In this way and because of the way in which dom inant narrative cinem a is conducted in term s o f the negotiations of the unconscious scenarios, Mulvey posited a unitary viewing position as a male.
Subsequently, Mulvey (1989:37) posited a slightly am ended position of spectatorship which offered th e transvestite position for women by m eans of which fem ale spectators could identify with the passive fem inine role and the active m asculine ro le which had been repressed, and acquire p leasure by these instances.In addition th e w om an is able to identify with the desire for the woman which originates, as for the man, with the desire for the m other, the original love object.She is also able to identify narcissistically with the fetishized fem ale object of the gaze.The woman is here inscribed in her relationship to m en and p a triarch al stru ctu res as th e 'O th e r'.T he im plications o f th is a re th a t the specificity of masculinity is culturally universalized.By adopting a marginal position to the address, an ideological distance from such an address is enabled w hich many feminist theorists consider conducive to forming a critical perspective.T he position of spectator ship, it is also suggested, does not coincide w ith actu a l m ale o r fem ale sp ectato rs.However, D oane (in Penley 1988:221) points out that men as social subjects are far more likely to take on the com fortable position designated as m ale.W om en m ust resort to bisexuality as masculinity is necessary for access to cultural discourse.
For any feminist consideration, notions of spectatorship and pleasure for woman spertators are crucial, but the insight of positioned spectatorship extends even further.The position of 'O th er' as a cultural signifier can also be used to understand signification of oth er social groupings beyond gender, more specifically relating to colour, to age, to sexual preference.Just about two decades after the publication of Mulvey's seminal document, we still need to debate and (perhaps with hindsight) look at film that is feminist, that is oppositional, for the implications of these ideas relate to other forms of oppression.

Order and disorder
Mulvey's later writings began to explore the Oedipal scenario anew, an attem pt that opens up interesting spaces and understandings very different from the polem ic offered by "Visual Pleasures " (1989b).These ideas open up interesting spaces for fem inist and oppositional film practices.
T he discourse co n tain ed in th e n a rrativ e o f th e m ale h e ro an d his successful quest frequently retells only a single stage o f O edipus's life story.The O edipus myth tells of O edipus as the victim child, the royal child, w anderer, hero-king, o f his defilem ent, his catharsis and finally how he becom es sanctified and possessing of sym bolic authority.O edipus does enact the adventures of the hero in the narrative functions described by Propp; he kills the king, he is interrogated and tested (by the riddle of the Sphinx) and succeeds in the test, he finally receives the queen (Jocasta) in m arriage.This narrative plots the linear story described by the proiaretic codes and it is one th at is initiated by stasis, followed by disruption and returns to a closure.Yet it is when we allow ourselves to recall m ore of the myth o f O edipus, th at con cen tratio n on this phase begins to feel so arbitrary, so unsatisfactory, so unconvincing.Closure at this point is inconclusive.Concen tration on one part of his life begs the question: And what then?Perhaps this is where it all begins for oppositional practice, for Oedipus too! T he Sophoclean tragedy begins the next phase of O edipus's life.A plague produces the disruption th a t ch aracterizes the opening o f th e narrativ e; for th e plague to end, the m urderer of Laius has to be cast out of Thebes.With the retardations that characterize the h e rm e n e u tic , th e re m a in d e r o f this play d e als w ith g rad u a l com ing to know ledge, establishing who perpetrated the crime.The knowledge that Oedipus is both m urderer and incestuous husband to his m other provides the solution to the initial enigm a. C onse quently, O edipus blinds him self and departs from the city.This second narrative begins precisely w here the Proppian m odel end.It centres around a search for knowledge and seeks to reveal those things that happened before the opening of the narrative.
U nlike the em phasis on action in the P ro p p ian m odel, em phasis shifts to thought, to dealing with cognitive puzzles, to finding answers to questions.This quest for knowledge is that which detective narratives follow far m ore than a Proppian structure.H erm eneutic codes drive this narrative.Mulvey suggests that this searching for knowledge which reveals such horror and self-knowledge, also offers a m etaphorical journey into the Unconscious, which then paves the way for redemption.Unlike the first O edipal story of patriarchal law, no attem pt to pose closure exists.The solution of this problem , the lack of knowledge replete, does not mark the closure of Oedipus's story.
The the law of desire by naming the Oedipal scenario.The discourse contained in that speaks the concerns of a particular person, of a particular discipline, of a m om ent in European history.The power of the discourse emanated from its inscription as 'natural'.It remains the core text for much of psychoanalysis, but to remind ourselves of the rest of the Oedipal myth is to rem ind ourselves of the other potential discourses and structures that can be picked up on as cultural m etaphors in the same way.They offer im portant opportunities for restructuring our narratives.
According to Barthes, myth imposes stasis on history and conceals contradiction.To Lévi-Strauss, myth functions to explain and maintain the status quo.U nder Propp's scrutiny the folktale was also revealed to ensure the m aintenance of order.These theorists describe narrative as functioning to ensure closure and to emphasize order.

Between the beginning and the end?
Leaving aside the other stages of Oedipus's life and returning to the Proppian model, here narrative offers a closure that is static, one th at restores the initial stasis th at binds the narratives described by Turner.So if one acknowledges the stasis of the beginning and the ending of the narrative, it is the m iddle section th at is active th at allows desire and disruption; this section allows the unspeakable to be spoken, it enables those issues that conflict with the codes of the law, those actions that are the domain of the repressed id, to be acted out, to escape control.
The final section has to close in and to harness this disorder and return it to a controlled, stable position.
Yet, it is the middle section of the Proppian narrative that offers numerous possibilities.It is here that the potential for change exists in the same way that the carnival offers scope for subversion.Just as the carnival The carnival offers a liminal phase, where laws are converted.The closing of the carnival m arks the retu rn of the law, but inherent in this threshold are oth er potential closures.T here is no guarantee that the return to repression will be successfully completed, in fact to th e co n trary .Ju st as the rite s o f carnival can o ffer th o se on th e verge of p o litical consciousness with such a lim inal m om ent to act out th eir intentions and desires and activate g re a te r historical events, sim ilarly narrativ es can allow som e of this lim inal experience to offer a closure that is different, one th at draws from those m om ents of rebellion of the middle section.
F o r n arrativ es to exist as m ore than a safety valve for disco n ten t, they need to pose different trajectories, ones that do not accept stasis, th a t might also pose political and historical contexts.By questioning the symbolic, by posing endings w ithout closure these narratives have potential to be politically socially significant.
If n arrativ e, w ith th e help o f av a n t-g a rd e principles, can b e conceived o f en d in g th a t is n ot closure, and th e state o f lim inality as politically significant, it can q u estio n th e sym bolic, an d en a b le m yth and sym bols to b e constantly revalued (M ulvey, 1989a:175).
By invoking those la te r scenarios experienced by O edipus, we are able to em phasize herm eneutic scenarios, where coming to Icnowledge and understanding is the focus of the narrative.Oedipus had to deal with the horrors of self-knowledge.This narrative structure is not new and has been employed both as the models for investigative genres and in many politically intentioned film, from Soviet Realism and feminist film to Third Cinema.
Film s also m irror w hat O edipus did at C olonus.H e told his story; film m akers retell narratives.The retelling that Freud considered the compulsion to repeat is evident here too.
These understandings I believe are useful for an exam ination for the type o f films that I referred to in the beginning.In both Mississippi Masala and On the Wire the openings offer moments of stasis, while the middle sections explore the areas of potential disruption and excess.In both cases the conclusions th a t are co n stru cted are not 'n a tu ra liz e d ' or conservative conclusions.W hat is exciting about them is that they begin to construct stories around transitional phases w here social change is given the ideological force of order, which can be integrated into a new expectation of normality.W hat they do is symbolically represent moments of social change, moments of social change relating to oppression, the afterm ath of colonialism and of reactionary power relations within these societies.They construct the 'abnorm al' back into a sense of an order that is different from, but clearly subject to, the law.

The films
TTiese films, neither boasting mainstream directors, both by women, offer pertinent texts to look at narratives that are provocative in their construction.The description offered below is deliberately schematic and among other aspects, it overlooks the context politically which is vital to its impact.N either does the description attem pt to trace the richness of detail and nuance.

On the Wire
The film focuses on the woman protagonist, Aletta.It opens when her husband, W outer, is throwing a branch for his dog; he is in the veld, unconstrained, happy.He returns to his house which is surrounded by a wire fence.O ur first glimpse of his wife is as he sees her: at his home and surrounded and encapsulated in her home through the grids of the wire fence.It is this them atic use of wire that the title suggests which recurs throughout the film: wire that divides and marks the separation.Beyond is the 'O ther'.H ere significantly, the woman A letta is 'other' to her husband.
Subsequently they sit down for lunch which is preceded by the reading o f a passage from the B ible, one th a t talks u n eq u iv o ca lly of division, e ith e r c o rru p tio n o r goodness, ad dressing th e id ea of a house b eing divided against itself.This division gradually manifests itself, between the couple, between the servant and employer.This is suggested only at this stage by the awkward framing.T hen a harmony is restored when their black servant, Lizzie, who has been a m other figure to W outer, serves them .H om e from the Perm anent Force for a week, W outer is restless and feels compelled to return to his mates for the evening.
T he film begins with this disruption, one betw een husband and wife, a union which has brought no children, one where there is a sense of alienation, of being outside the symbolic bliss that is m eant to accompany the successful completion of the O edipal scenario.In On the Wire the initial disruption relates to a breakdown in the m arital relationship, with the suggestion later that the wife, Aletta, is unprepared to have children.
A t an o th er level th ere is an enorm ous sense of alienation for A letta and her husband, W outer, that relates to the social conditions of war, apartheid and the abuse of women.
In psychoanalytic terms, it could be assumed that she was reluctant to make good the lack o f the phallus by having her own baby, by accepting W outer as the person who could take the male role.The stasis positions nuptial bliss as norm al and desirable.The disruption marks the start of a trajectory that can indeed allow the unspeakable to happen, for the violence and disruption to occur.W outer and his army mates have raped a black woman.She was stopped for running along a wire fence.Forced first of all to sing (ironically a song that Lizzie sang to him as a child), she is then sadistically gang-raped and murdered.The W outer's recall of these sadistic pleasures leads him to cajole his wife into allowing him to tre a t h er gradually in a sim ilar way.In the scene w here he returns from his mates, he watches A letta brushing her hair.Significantly, her A frikaans song is about being on an island, reinforcing the them e of division.W hat would be considered sexually aberrant in the context of A le tta 's experience occurs: a sexuality unfolds th at defies the norm s of conventional patriarchal law.From cajoling her to say "fuck", W outer's actions push other boundaries that culminate in W outer raping her, with her hands bound by wire.
From the fragm ents of a torn photograph, Lizzie learns of W outer's treatm en t o f black w om en and walks ou t on th e couple.T he com m unity in w hich they live, consists of conservative Calvinists, intolerant, hostile and racist.The town is dom inated by the white church with its phallic spire.W outer's self-hate and lack of control spin the couple into direct confrontation with the community.They are rejected by them , divided from them.
In a significant scene near the conclusion, it is a drunken and defensive W outer who throws him self against the fences th a t surround the farm they are visiting.(It is p artially a celebration to mark the completion of this fence.) Still the end could have brought a closure that returns the couple to their positions within p atriarch y .In a clim actic scene a fte r this in c id e n t, W o u te r's a tte m p ts at fu rth e r humiliation of A letta m eet with her refusal to accede.W outer, unable to contain his selfhate, shoots himself.This knowledge that he reaches, closely m irrors the O edipal myth, except that W outer does not purify himself as did Oedipus.
A letta is released from this bond, and sim ultaneously rejects the p atriarchal law of the church and the support of the group who banished her.In a final scene, A letta has shed the flowing dresses that she has been wearing.Dressed in trousers and a long-sleeved shirt she burns the veld near the fence.The hypocritical dominee calls to invite her back to the fold.A letta leaves him on the other side of the fence while she refuses the overtures and explains that she intends destroying the fences, the fences that characterize the patriarchal power, property and fear of others.The narrative has enabled a self-knowledge to take place for A letta.It has also concluded w ithout the conventional closure.W hile she is burning and singing, Lizzie returns and smiles when she sees A letta busy with the burning.For A letta, the rejection o f the trappings of patriarchy are accom panied by the return of the m other figure, creating a form of fem inine solidarity at the ending.But the m other figure is also the 'other' in South Africa by her blackness.The liminal positions opened up in the middle section have enabled a closure that does not m eet conventional expectations of mainstream cinema.
This type of film will certainly m eet with a degree of rejection.To reject the patriarchal law w hich m ost p eo p le assu m e 'n a tu r a l' and w ith w hich th e c u ltu ra l n o rm s have encouraged them to identify presents a dilemma for many spectators.Consider the critic's response.

Mississippi Masala
The opening of the film depicts the forced d ep artu re of an Indian family from U ganda during the reign of terror of Idi Amin.The father, Jay, has been a progressive lawyer, born in U ganda and "Ugandan".This intrusion to their life m arks the disruption that initiates the narrative, one that relates to antagonism between black people and brown people.It is to this life and to the events that took place there that the film frequently refers by means of flashbacks.This period is alm ost presented as a state of grace, of utopia, from which they were banished.The double narrative structure spans two time periods.
T here is a tem poral leap of alm ost twenty years to G reenw ood, M ississippi w here the family live in an Indian m otel owned by a relation.The H indu custom s and traditions prevail in this southern States hick town.It is here that Mina, dissatisfied with her own life in the Indian motel, quite literally bumps into a black carpet cleaner and the relationship betw een M ina and D em etrius begins.The start of the relationship poses the disequili brium that begs resolution.
The problem s experienced by the couple pertain to differing cultural expectations largely presented by her family.Ironies abound and it is M ina's action that drives the narrative on.This is in contrast to most m ainstream films w here men generally are responsible for the action codes.Mina is not simply structured as the 'problem ' to be removed, the 'princess' to be saved, albeit by m arriage.It is M ina who in itiates the first p hone con tact with D em etrius.She accepts D em etrius's invitation to stay with him at Biloxi beach.It is a sexual encou nter th at she consciously chooses but which would be unacceptable to her family, to th e H indu com m unity in which she lives.It is at Biloxi b each w here m ale members of her extended family protect their family honour by exposing her relationship.
The extended Indian family set about revenge on Demetrius.This divisive behaviour mir rors attitudes in U ganda.Frequently throughout the film, th ere are flashbacks to the fam ily's last days, to the fath er Jay's m em ories of his 'b ro th e r', O kello.This sense of identity and belonging are constantly invoked.D em etrius's family question her Indian identity, she who is from A frica.She describes herself as "m asala -a bunch of spices".
(N one of this description reflects the rich depiction of the family lives of both M ina and D em etriu s.T h e conservative Indian com m unity a re irrev eren tly b u t affectionately represented.) By ruining his business, M ina's family succeed in driving D em etrius away.Simultaneously, Jay has decided to return to U ganda where he feels he belongs.It is Mina again who does not accept leaving D em etrius without a farewell and who then suggests that they make it together by leaving and starting afresh.
Accordingly on one level one has a simple rom ance w here problem s and m isunderstand ings in the relationship have to be overcom e in order to achieve narrative closure.This particular plot follows the expectations of the Oedipal scenario: both Mina and Demetrius have to separate from the home, the symbolic mother; D emetrius indeed has to move away from his relation ship of identification with his fath er and by this sep aratio n avoid its castrating effect.U nlike the Oedipal scenario, it is not the man who initiates and drives this action.Away from G reenw ood he can develop into the man who has overcome his O edipal complex accompanied by the possession of a mature woman.
For Mina the Oedipal scenario is more complicated, in the way that Freud suggested this is for girl children.She has a dual relationship where both parents are extremely important.She is attached to her m other and identifies with her.Yet she is separate from her and distanced by her strong bond with her father.H ers is a jo in t bonding: her father could offer her the phallus, yet by doing th at she would be defying her m other with whom she identifies: her mother is also her mirror image.Interestingly enough, she has to leave both of them behind.H er father refuses to bid her farewell; her m other allows the separation.M ina moves into full adulthood and into a position where she leaves behind the O edipal trajectory of her childhood.
This symbolic union is made all the m ore interesting if one takes into consideration the rem aining Oedipal narratives: the space that is allowed for a coming to knowledge beyond.T hen there is her fath er's trajectory as well, w here the angry fath er (A m in) rejects him, banishes him, m akes him an outsider to what he considers his birthright.This process inflames him with a desire to return, to be an insider.It is at the end of the film that he is able to return to Uganda and to decide not to remain, not in anger, not in despair, but in an acceptance of his status as able to be outside this now.H e has been disem pow ered for tw enty years: he has clung o n to old d re am s o f his belonging, b o th in term s o f his relationship with his 'brother', Okello, and to Uganda, to Africa; he has allowed Kinu to be the one who runs a liquor store and make the money to live off; he has accepted the charity of the extended family which is one which he is outside of.Finally purged of his anger and in acceptance, he chooses to leave Africa.H e accepts th at outsider status.F or twenty years he has been closed.Prior to that he was able to take U ganda on its terms.By the end of the film, in the evocative scene w here he watches the woman dancing and interacts with the child, he is able to let go.On discovering that his 'brother' had died years ago, he is able also to relinquish that anger, and to be open to a changed life.T here is no cathartic closure, but a potential to actively engage in life once again.
Mississippi Masala does not have a single narrative and both of these end with an openness that rejects the patriarchal and social expectations of conservative narratives.The ending heralds social change and a rejection of narrow ideologies.

1.
By way of review(s) ■ Extracts of reviews: Mississippi Masala * M ississippi M asala g ets th e m h o t an d b o th e red < In N airo b i > T h e re w as a single Indian m an sittin g th re e seats from m e. T h ro u g h th e legs o f th e c o u p ic s ta n d in g u p a n d a p p la u d in g b e tw e e n us, I lo o k e d o v e r a t h im .H e w as sittin g clen ch ed , w incing.A s th e film e n d e d I n o ticed th a t he got up a n d left b e fo re th e final cred it sequ ence.F o r th e first tim e I u n d ersto o d why th e Indians a re called 'th e Jew s o f A fric a '.A friend o f m ine w ho saw Mississippi Masala in th e U S, said th a t th e 'A frica is fo r A frican s' line rece iv ed sim ilar ro a rs o f ap p ro v al from th e largely A m e ric a n au d ien ce ov er th e re .S h e no ted , how ever, th a t w hen 'th e scen e is re p e a te d at th e en d o f th e film, th e a u d ie n c e w as d ea d -q u iet'.C le arly , in h e r N ew Y o rk a u d ie n c e (u n lik e in m y N a iro b i o n e ), th e film h a d m a d e its p o int ab o u t racism th a t exists, in film m aker M ira N a ir's w ords, 'b etw e en black an d b ro w n ' -p erh ap s b ec au se it to u c h ed th e nerve o f racism black p eo p le have ex p erien ced in th e U S (G ev isser, 1992: 28, in Weekly Mail).• O p e n in g night b o m b s th re a te n Masala release in T rin id ad film could have b ec o m e hopelessly m e lo d ra m a tic o r p re te n tio u s, b u t P ro c to r's h andling o f a d ifficu lt s u b je c t p e rs u a d e s o th e rw ise .B o th sc rip t a n d d ire c tio n a r e s u re , a n d th e tw o cen tral p erform ances, particularly th a t o f A le tta B czu id en h o u t as th e wife, a re convincing.S o is th e atm o sp h ere o f th e stifling com m unity in w hich b o th a r e fatally en m esh ed (A n o n ., 1990:35, in Variety).* B leak an d harrow ing ta le set in S o u th A frica Bleak, harrow ing, long-w inded a re w ords th a t co m e to m in d for this S o u th A frican film -rap e, m u rd e r w ith a m ise rab le la ag ered existence b eh in d high w ire fences c o n ju rin g th e m u p ... N ot th a t he does m uch to im prove m a tte rs -in fact h e tu rn s on his w ife A le tta an d so m e b ru ta l sex m a k in g ta k e s p la ce, m u c h to th e h o r r o r o f th e lo c al d o m in e e a n d m o s t o f th e fa rm in g com m unity o f rep ressed w om en an d chauvinistic m en.By the way, W o u te r eventually p u ts us o u t o f ou r m isery an d w e're show n a little light at th e end o f a m urky tunnel -but it's a long tu n n e l (Sally Scot, 1991:2, in D aily N ews, T onight section).
A n arrativ e b egins w ith o n e s itu a tio n ; a s e rie s o f c h a n g e s o c c u r a c c o rd in g to a p a tte r n o f c a u se s a n d effec ts, fin ally a situ ation arises w hich brings about th e end o f th e n arrativ e ... U sually th e ag e n ts o f cau se an d effect are ch a ra cte rs (B ordw ell & T ho m p so n , 1985:83).
E n tr y in to th e S y m b o lic is p rem ised on th e child's aw aren e ss o f th e m o th e r's lack o f th e phallu s an d th e b o y child's d e sire for th e m o th e r b ec o m cs fused w ith a fear o f ca stratio n .R ep re ssin g love fo r th e m o th e r, th e b o y child aligns h im se lf w ith th e fa th e r.A fte r a la ten cy p e rio d , h e is ab le to o b ta in a su b stitu te o b je ct o f love.F o r th e g irl child th e O e d ip a l s c e n a rio is m o re c o m p lic ated .S h e reco g n izes th e fa th e r as h av in g th e p h a llu s th a t sh e lacks.T h is d e s ire fo r th e f a th e r is p ro h ib ite d o n th e p a r t o f th e p a re n ts.H ow ever, for h e r th e th re a t o f ca stratio n d o es not exist a n d sh e re tu rn s to iden tificatio n w ith h e r original love object, e n a b lin g an am bivalence o r bisexuality in iden tificatio n .^ It p re se n ts itse lf as a story, histoire, told from now here.N o signs o f th e en u n c iatio n , discours, o r th e so u rce o f p ro d u ctio n is revealed.

^
T h e n o tio n o f su tu re is a com plex o ne.D ebatably, a film ic exam ple o f w hen su tu re can b e se e n to b e a t w o rk is p re s e n t in th e s h o t/re v e rs e sh o t seq u en ce co m m o n to n a rra tiv e cin em a. H e r e th e v iew er is p o s itio n e d in a lte rn a tin g view points: firstly as th e privileged o b serv er o f c h a ra c te r (X ), an d th e n in th e rev ersed position as th e o b served c h a ra c te r (Y ).
9 T his lack o r m isfo rtu n e is m a d e know n; th e h e ro is given a req u est o r a co m m an d an d h e g o es o r is sen t o n a m issio n /q u est.O R 11 T h e h e ro leaves hom e.A N D 31 T h e h e ro is m a rried an d crow ned.
6. G endered spectatorshipB eing th e m ainstay of m ain stream cinem a, the re-enacting of the m ale scenarios has offered debates around the role of spectatorship for women.Principally, the notion of gendered spectatorship has been d eb ate d widely since M ulvey's sem inal article(1973)   posited that spectatorship was confined for women.Mulvey emphasized the visual side of narrative pleasure.Firstly, scopophilia and voyeurism are looks associated with looking at other people.Visual pleasure is acquired in these instances by an identification with the cam era.Secondly, narcissism and exhibitionism are facilitated by the cinem a w ith its a n th ro p o m o rp h ic th ru st.T h e cin em atic im age allows th e type of id e n tificatio n and recognition/m isrecognition o f oneself identified by Lacan in the m irror phase.

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em in ism h as draw n a lte n tio n to th e w ay th a t w o m en have b e e n p re s e n te d in a n eg ativ e relatio n to creativity a n d artistic practices.But this polarisation a ro u n d access to cu ltu re is n o t p articu lar to sex o p p r e s s io n .T h e m i n d /b o d y o p p o s itio n is c h a r a c te r is tic o f o th e r o p p o s itio n s o f d o m in a n c e ( b la c k /w h it e , c o l o n is e d /c o n q u e r o r , p e a s a n t /n o b l e , b o u r g e o i s / w o r k e r ) a n d in e a c h c a s e th e o p p re s s e d a rc lin k ed to n a tu re ( th e body) a n d th e d o m in a n t to c u ltu re ( a n d th e m in d ).W h a te v e r actual cu ltu ral dep riv atio n an d econom ic exploitation m ay give th e m yth a h isto rical fo u n d atio n , it is th e re to exploit 'th e h u m a n acts' (M ulvey, lW a :1 6 7 ) .
T h e sto ry is b o u n d e d at b o th e n d s by an im p lic it o r explicit a s s e rtio n o f s y n c h ro n ic o r d e r .T h e n a rra tiv e itself, how ever, re p re se n ts a com plex m e d iatio n o f this o rd e r, n e c e ssita te d by th e e ru p tio n o f conflict and confusion ... o f th e original synchronic o rd er" (T u rn e r in M ulvey, 1989a:170).
c e le b ra te d a te m p o ra ry lib eratio n from th e prevailing m yth and th e esta b lish ed o rd e r, it m a rk ed th e su sp en sion o f all hierarchical rank, privileges and n o rm s o f pro h ib itio n s (B ak h tin , 1968:47).
black woman metaphorically becomes linked to Lizzie, the woman who reared him, a sur ro g ate m o th er.H ere we have the O ed ip al h o rro rs o f incestuous relatio n s with the 'm other'.H e is the man.W omen are other and, in his culture, so are blacks.Hence the enorm ous paradox of the m other being twice outside -the fear of castration doubled in Freudian terms.
Mina and D em etrius have not returned to be contained by the law of the patriarch, to the confines of societal and especially racial pressures.They have moved to the position of the 'o th e r ' and w ill have to c o n tin u e th e ir lives b eyond th e know n c o n h n e s o f th e ir backgrounds.
10. ConclusionW hen I saw On the Wire, I objected to the review by Scott.Subsequently, I was intrigued at the m anner in which the audience in Nairobi, described by Gevisser, replayed the initial disruption of Mississippi Masala.The rejection of this film in Trinidad focused my attention on another instance of the m anner in which the experience of the film by the audience is linked to specific expectations and presuppositions.I can only speculate about the reasons for this (for here too there is no closure).Each of these examples are underpinned by the spectato r's desire for a scenario th at confirms their sense of what is appropriate, for the myth that 'naturalizes' their beliefs.By not meeting such expectations, the narratives are draw ing on aspects o f disruption characteristic of the m iddle section of narrative, the inherent transgressions and liminal positions that perm eate the carnival.T hese films are exam ples of n arrativ e stru ctu res th a t do not re tu rn th e released tresp a sse rs to th eir patriarchal and traditional origins.This shift in resolution is sharp and refreshing.Perhaps the later parts of the O edipal myths open ways to consider potential narrative forms and offer ways in which to reconceive aspects of spectatorship which can allow and speak for social change.Bibliography A n on .1990.On the Wire (B ritish -16m ).Variety: 35, D ec. 31.B akhtin, M .1968.R ab e lais an d his W orld. C am b rid g e, M as-s.: M IT .B arth es, R .1970.S /Z .Eng. T ra n s.L on d o n : C ape. Bordw ell, D .& T h o m p so n , K. 1985.Film Art: An Introduction.N ew Y o rk : K nopf.D avies, G .T e ach in g ab o u t N arrativ e 1978-1979.Screen Education, 29:56-7!.W in ter.D o an e, M A , 1988.W o m a n 's S take: F ilm ing th e F em a le Body.In: P enley, C .Feminism and Film Theory.

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on d o n : R K P /B F I. p. 216-228.G evisser, M .1992.A /iíjijjý jp i A/ora/fl G e ts T h e m H o t an d B o th e red .Weekly Mail: 2S, June 26 -July 2. L acan, J. 1977.Ecrits.L on d o n ; Tavi.stockPres.s.M etz, C. 1981.H istory: D iscourse: A N o te on T w o V oyeurism s.In: Caughie, J. Theories o f Authorship.L on d o n : R o u tled g e and K cgan P aul.p. 225-231, Sophoclean Oedipus at Colonus deals with the end o f O edipus's life.Responding to questioning by the chorus, O edipus retells his life story and recounts how he comes to term s w ith his fate, his d e a th and w ith issues o f in h e rita n c e .T h is do es no t replay patriarchal law, particularly as his sons are cursed.At the end he is ready for death purged by suffering.W ithin O ed ip u s's life story we have th re e n arrativ es, b u t beyond th ese are yet o th er narratives, the pre-Oedipal ones which account for why his father, Laius, w anted to destroy him, or the one that offers his m other's history to account for O edipus's life trajectory and its complications.Post-O edipal narratives retell the fratricidal war of the sons he curses.The narratives do not exist separately and exclusively.Y et the O edipal scenario we replay is the one contained in the action codes of the Proppian model.Freud chose to understand