Sonderdruck aus Melodrama! The Mode of Excess from Early America to Hollywood Edited by FRANK KELLETER BARBARA KRAH RUTH MAYER Univestitsverlag Heidelberg, a‘Contents Fok KELLER, RUTH MAYER: The Melodamatie "Mode Revised. Aa Iteducion. ‘Wesrnuen HERGE: Vill for Pleasure? The Pardo ‘ot Ninteenth-Centry (Ameren) Medes, Maxras KuEsri: “Teacherous Hea Excess nd ‘Control a Sussina Rowsan's Charlate Temple Manas ShYDER-KORDER: The Melodrama of Ress: Che Broceen rose Weld Wotrcanc HocBnuce: Flashove! Th Firefighter ‘se one of Amarian Melodrana's Faves ‘BannasA KRAitsMelodsamaticRecorstrastion a (Carlin Le Hent's The Plato's Northern Bride ‘Uw Jonas: Melodramatic Totes andthe Insc of ‘Slavery a Doe Bouccal's The Otoroon [Nana GeRnaLzck: Tragedy of Autocrat Re, Melodrama ‘of Repblisensm: Cenelgy of Dramatic ad Poit= fal Foms in Joba Augustus Store's Metamora or the ast ofthe Wampanoag -RALPJ Poot: Moonlight Blossoms and White ‘Chisaniheruns: Madan Buterfys Exeesive ‘Ara of Japniste Accesories Nass W: BALESTRO The Scarlet Ltr a ‘Centenil Melodrama end Contemporary ‘Open Between the Tet andthe Promise of Shared Puritan Past 3s 6 . os us 1 161 ‘Sane DEvs0y corporations: Melodeams ane “Mossvosity in Whale'sFrankoscin and Bride ‘of Frantensten ‘Vanessa KONEMUS ‘Staging the Chinas forthe Wes! Meladamati Dimensions i Pat S. Buck's ‘Novels andthe Film Adapation of The Goad Earth erie MavEn:‘A sing must bie plot thers is ‘ota storys AnzieYeeiera’s Melodramatic Meanina Making [Dat Sr Uncle Tom's Cabin andthe Legacy of "Race Mslgrana i Aican-Amaian Plton Sinn: SmLKe: The Movie of Maners or: Vinalizing Re- ‘lism, Post Producing Melodraa : ‘Carusor Decks: Unssuly Compassionate’ Melodia, Film andthe Figure of he Child -ManotePevERrY: Keo Burs Ci! War: Documentary ‘andthe Melodramatic Representation of History [spa Wes: Melancholy Melos: “Aimodétavin Gre and Lost Homesoxasl Athens List of Contre 20 297 263 283 205 30 353 a”rose KELL RUTHMAYER ‘The Melodramatic Mode Revisited. An Introduction 1. Nelodrama and he Moder Imagnsion ‘Dein, retd and Marc were all posucs ofthe melodramatic Smapnaion” writes Chasine Glechil Inthe itodactin to ber ‘nflueaal 1987 volume oa melodrama and the “wort fn (QO, In what flows she cancers onthe mic varies of the tcindramae mode, but the very fat hat she ses no ned To eae bone oe reference her sieping claim atests tothe changed satus {te melodanatic nour ys: Wha used to be regarded sa Low {aa of ultra expeasion, resent came Uo be rele 38 @ slpilean ype of representation. In cue scholars ben, m= Fedm no lige figures ara derogatory concept, astclated with sheap eles, quick ensetanen, aad dracon from weighty ‘onl qesions stad melodrama is pov increasing) invoked as {Tega and cereal ealegoy to aes the modem cura imag tannin general, Gledhil was by no means the Ht cri to pot fhe indebcdness of eae Wadtions of aineteenbcenary thought tothe melodramatic imapiation" Bu evolu, togetbet ‘i sone other studies of melodrama in helt 1970s nd 180s, 98, il oud tay ee pa 9 ees fei ats ‘Mia Ber cain. ‘Soe eplty nfs To We Sysbar wo ‘ines ar ary 988 a mela ccs ote of 19 cemay He) thug ea at” 20). Gell cou an ate ‘pete fic) Pape yma Te Tangled Dou Uke Pee ‘tokens hat henge Fred peal esas ‘the ran free” cet et Yt da ‘Rgon (01), Sethe see te sae llved we ‘icv tng aac of toner Pam ‘ho ete fhe moma pany esi ot Ket Ma (Glaser Remee.‘ osc Keusre, Ro MANER inode a cass and tangonaie speach to the sujet tha sas indeed nv ‘Tis approach exploded the anal framework of traditional sone theory ead stcturals naratolog, on which eument mec ‘huis ers to ths day. While Nonvop Frye could ail ‘emily four archerypal fora of ration and sory-tling (re ‘dy, comedy, romance, and size, which then ramified into var ‘us genres and subpemes, among them melodrana (displaying "he ‘eucph of moral wre over vilsing, and the consegue: Sealing ‘tthe mora views escimed tbe beld by the sence” (47), Gledhill and cers have come to ese msloda ns a mode of mat ‘ton and messing-making Dat foecefilly dts the very peincple ‘of etegrztion underlying Fye's approach Its on these grounds ‘het Gledhill sented melodramas “an epstemogial and ims ‘lve puratigm scros nineteenth centry culure and ought” (2) foming ong thes he wg of ari, Masa fr Tn one ofthe most radical exonsions ofthis logic, film scholar ‘Linda Willi hs lame that melodrama shoald not be unde ‘Sood as one generic cinematic mode mong many but rer as "the fundamental mode of popolar American moving pistes” (1098, 4), Melodeama, she writes, usin he om, oer a te extn of Anecan cna. ‘im aer he cs ee fet of ode ese ‘oh al se eres and ny poe pa of as metic ‘ndo—fy the oe ve indi gees They hve mses ‘ty nse nace he rs ar de eg ‘feels pe oes, 001617) At & tine when generic classification is bacoming increasingly ‘problematical, bec geores are no longer isolated with stable Dorms an fares, but ae sec “as process” ae Stove Nesle Aries with reference to Hine Robert Ju (170, also Aimar 1996, 623), melodrama gain an especialy prominent fiction Inoitably cing across the field of gene deteations While th line of reasoning has been developed mest orouhly in ‘ic i goes bok to piece of itera ericom: Peter Bebo's 1976 stay The Melodramatic mgginaion, which itodaced the ron of melodrara as arode a exces” (xi). “Te Meloni Mode Revi a Since msodrana reiaves With moral urgency what is Hinble to ppat oom or insignificant nu seculrzed world, sine it wes ‘Tethngs and gestures ofthe real word of socal if, as kinds of ‘eit tat fefer us 1 he fealm of spun elt) ad latent rom neanings” (9), Brooks eauod tht shoul be seen ota 3 fet tenia frm, a theme, ofa genre, bu rath “as a mode ‘of conception and expression, ag erin cto sytem for ma- ng sense of experience, asa semantic felé of for" (ev), This Inehdrumaic mode, Brooks elaborated sa "ode of heightened ‘rentzation inetsably bound up withthe modem novel's eat toni” (a. Troks himself was surprised athe soces of his study. I the proce to fs 1995 elon be recalled tht his bok "ao offen = ow sa hen ist appear, but ht it Gly ound an ue Aire, if an wnepested coo: "Most sling to me it my belted icovry tet hie ook early on engaged a readership ina Geld T hdmesly lladed to and of which I thn knew practially nah ing: sie” (vi), Together wit Thomas Elsese's serial ‘say "Tales of Sound and Fun Observations on the Fay Meo- ‘ana (1972), which ingopenderly fom Brooks described the ‘mols univese of the 19508 Holywood faily melodrama in tems of van intensified sybalization of every-day ations fond) the began ofthe ornary gesture” (79), Brooks's book thas became a pole of departre fr vaso re-invesigations ofa cine aie noe "Wile Brooks and Elsacserfocsed on specifi pecods and atx ‘hog of msodrama (i st rinetenth com and the 1950s), ther sais inspired othe vies to widen be scope, and tas (> reappras cigheenh an nneteeth-contary their and Sito, 38 ‘fel as caly tweniedr-eatary classical Hollywood cinewa. This ‘wie storcl scope ivi triggered invesiatons inthe 0- ‘oul! work ofthe melodramatic imagination, Afer all the Incamatc ode hs ly’ lent sel to stores of power sug- te and te eouteats of roi-cultual process of marginalize floc or tft. Where inthe rope content, or example, Inebdlansofen revolved end conceptions a elas and gender, Inany Artesian novels dramas, and fis added the dramatic pox temal of rice, Ison thet grounds that not nly Terry but so Piosopical td scientific tevt canbe read fom the vantage pot OF melodrama sues foregrounds, for insane, the Gothic10 Pra Kenta RNR cements of The Communist Manifesto (Lansbury 6-7) or the melo- eamatic tendencies of rineenh-eatry evolutionary and pro- ‘resive thought Posiewait 0-51) 2. Melodzama and Ideoony From the late nietent century onwards, itary es tended to ‘scassmslodiama In sharp coutersincton to reir a8 an ‘tated and embarasingly crude apeosch tothe problem of a= ‘sie mimesis which the realise modo of wing supposedly ad managed fo overcome and leave behind. Tho very terms realm ‘nd melodrama have ts been sed in highly evasive ways with Peli slang ational, ore, prasad ee-eaded- fess while mood sds To fling, exces, retimenalty, nd grandince gesres. A Thomas Postlowal as pointed ou thie Ins of melee td as foros sa one. Sey ene ‘Syne ana ninona inake ese step fe ees (Geifech hala cnmallng pnts wd) e ete slay Aco er any frm uh Se compen ot Ae PlcngB explie h mater) The ogee ope en in {dae boundain (4) Agia, this tine of argument is preigued i Brooks's sy, which focuses, after all on the works of te aubors who were storey Asetclaad wid the seatbtcs of relism: Hoseré de Balzac and ‘TeeNedodti Mad Reed un emy lames, nthe work of the later, Brooks hols, melodrama foe: mena ahd becomes “melodrama of coosciouness “Exe al peli as See used o fad into the melodrama of ec ‘hoke” (57), For Brooks wo, ther, mslodruma live inside ofr Tami spa and parcel ofthe reais project rater than is ade ‘il ec, even oF precisely Because lang literary voles (of be pernd (induding Henry James) were amdous fo distance ‘henseves ron the melodrama waitin ofthe preceding peiod ‘Of cours, te fisory of difereatins between high and low «a, bebven complex represeatations and cheap effets, extends ff the late nneeenh wll nt the twetits cetury and thas ‘Nes he steno lee han the stage. Fer og he age rations ‘fe Inte nnetenh entry ave closely inked with ery cies te editions of represen, a Shane Denson Bie this con- tribeon te die volume (ef also Altman 1985; Singer, Wiliams 001 Thus the evaiative dichotomy of realise and melodrama is Called up and vviegated in he ater contastve fshionng of cin trate melodrama vs te "asia! Hollywood” system. As Rick ‘Atan har pointed ou, the very fleeniaion beween = meo- ‘ama ely “inema of atraston” (Tom Gang) al a elie “Sse” Hollywood exes fam the 1980s onwards lied 2 the esuptln that the classical Hollywood sysem (complet, tough rulebound) had somehow maneged to dieipline end re San an exly-anucic and excessve—uaton of fm making. “Taling ise with is esumpion, Altman sbowed that he msl rants node contaued to dnivene the cinematic scene of the 1030s 10 1950s, which to Altman displayed “an amalgam of de- fomed, embedded melodramatic material and exeflyelborted tive lim” Alma. 1989, 4 ‘ison hse gros tht Linda Williams rasa he provocative lain that smlodarn indeed functions asthe cinematic mode of ‘ur days, soeseding and infoing all kinds of eer tadons Shggenres of l-making, "a perpetually modernizing form that is ever opposed to te norms ofthe ‘lasscal” por to the noms of elisa’ bat whi adapts both” a she ws in ee contribution to his volume. But even ifthe melodramate imagination etlec's tte prdastios fom the elazcenh century to the presenti floes so in stag diferent ways and with skngly iferet feats Tete safer alla clear dfrence betwee te syle end thon ofthe ey ‘laemaofetroeton" and later phases of ie2 ‘Foose Rarer RUE MER tate presentation, evn ough conics snd not be ove Inked or gored Tate bane ein, Rick Alans sone ws ‘ofthe continous esmantceston of th temo melodrama In Cvendvccnry fin esa abd Mn ses (Akan 1998, Singer)—and the samo log holds tus for Iter and eatral istry (Misco: Posleva). Te very mode tat let ist fcloglst and evlionary taraives i the soeenth cetuy thor cme fig the epitome of expesvy and dri a the arly sweat en -etbing a vena nd alle ity hat can be fund in few ober ave ode. ‘As ares meadama i lays Opn to stongly diergert readings sod hisioeel apropians. Ths, Wintel Heze!s onion i thi volume densates tat the pater of en fection aid out 9 mlomat ets ar mh more aban tian Ge oflen newoupielyconseoeed bina sewers of ‘lation ould se To sugges the vn might easly Become a fue of Wena, even fe expt reserng rofl sora merge ofa ext rn ei fo sch pled eas (ct {io Glu Posewai, By extension of tis fp, melodramas ‘ec use rl kinds of plea! purposes. my wel be tr ‘Mara Visi oot tnt lata alysis wh he po ‘ec (130), ut ne wits vii might eanly be anther ‘rie’ ba gy. Wat can be witnessed inthe contin is Ie lose efi sno 0 te pein of mony, twee the ‘eloamate mode and the rceric of seinen. Nelo {aes epson sennton an enc sama to beh mode af ‘creel pa oxallencs fre setinets equine i= Tiod with vitae Whee soutien Hos hat sug is Sn unmisakabe sgn of moral igleousness,mloeama supp the moa efoive fol of erating tis mumpion on Hage, 09 ‘rat din ftom. may wel he aked er fhe sep Cronipeserce of meloroma fn he modem sagt dos bot fointo the mach mre ge pesance of nme eles EE eserm modem a any cae fsecns fa tsa hat ay Cont poston ne Sl of melon sues we ven by Inet seamen of the ov, nny sane, Mara Vics r David Grinsted do, to kei ie of he powers ‘by defiant td the sof mom and ah Serer cn. tion is lume bx on hse question y investing the volte olga ivust of melodrama snd is pean a ‘The Menec Mode Revit a kins of nsumentainsions and speropiations (cf, Naja Gea- ets Uwe urns, Daniel Stei's, Christof Decker’, Barbare Kai's, Vanes Kuonemenn’s, Magi Peters, and: Wolfgang Hatin tex). ‘What can be sen in these contibutions i that whenever melo leant fakes om Woologial sues, ends to intairze, personal fae and excesivey ayia” Hs tubjoct mater Ths, soil and pola sues ae sino invariably tunsfered onto a level of r- proeniatien where thelr enactment doesnot obviously treat the kiting social order, as Linda Willams argue Ont key fe of meat it comglon e- hein resonate ey fn lan pod tema that cat ely Be sed whos chaeaging hale ens [Sescfmral cont och econ wes ern (Wins foot 3 ‘Exqnding on thi ide, Crist Decker has shown tat melod- ‘mate strates ee subject (0 "a fundaental ambivalence of fe- ling” consanlyosclaing between "a simulation snd conto of sit (Decker 14, our tansaion). Melodrama, Decker continues, (Gos not so much am flint of desires ba athe the ‘seton, epitomizes “the fundamental insight that a retro the ‘eae of ingcence” i impossible (2). Here, Decker goes beyond Wiliams, in showing thatthe wish to retro an original sate of| ‘perfetion aed not go alongwith regressive lage ot an atic Fration ov tbe pst "The search Sr the moral residual ves the nostalgic rtum (Rackhindng") andthe sstzeous sit {her thi etm is nly posible unde changed conditions (42). l= ‘eal, he specie achievement of Hera and fimie meodaa ‘night well be to eymboicly cot conics and problems tht {een Uresoble a the ime of enactment, dus not So much map- ping away ou of cultural predicament tan ruher staging it inthe tamer of tableau. This might be ene reson for the prominence tf melodramatic performances in times of elu tnsiton and pandgm shifts (2 scared in the comtbuions of Martin Klep- pes MaryAnn Snyder Keber and Sabine Siete inthis volume).i Prac aL, RT MATER 3, Melodramatic Medi: Prose, Dra, Flin Since reflections onthe ideoogial work of meloeara abound in ‘coutemporary eviisn, melodrama has not only lst ts pejorative ‘ounottons, but its evaluation has Mipod overall th way, that ‘lod i frequently seen row asthe epitome ofan atonative ‘social discouse. Thus, in her influential reading of De eur ‘work of Dallar inten of' rlodramatcimagistion, Ten Ang. bas come tothe conclusion hatte eres “maes visible arear of intemal psychological disturbance” (485) precisely because it is ‘pat and patel of larger popular eultal stem of signification. ‘Alough Ang makes reference to Thomas Elsaesr’s work en the ‘Sivan fon melodeama o legitimate he aprouh, se takes E sesers ergimeat wo new exremes, tee focused on at be ‘ook tobe highly sophistiomed edbgnr of popular entersinment, Shrply act of from the melodramatic mainstream by ft "open, ‘conscious irony” (9). But whereas Flsesser claimed that some ‘melodramas cay subversive mesages tothe latate and ate, ‘Ang argc hat the consumption of melodrama picts i sub versie per se ora the very eat lends itself to the subversive $esming of target miances. Tae upebot of Ang’s reedng = that sversion originate inthe ct of option and emotion sp propsion, na inthe formal fetes ofthe melodramatic prodost (ich even in Ang's reading may’ Well eoriove to figure 36 @ heap commodi, as longa snot ade meaning By is rae fen or viewers). This rong emphais on act of innotive rep tion is obviowty brewed fom the eel prediesions ofthe Clr! States movement inthe 1970 and 1980. Sach emp, however, bes the quesion if there te speci modes of represen tion oe a specific ses contract Patween prot snd se ence that invite and encourage such acts of melodramatic con- sumption This onthe grounds of methodological issues suc as these hat ‘Michael Hays and Anastasia Nikslopoulou, the editors of another stuly onthe melodic inagization, ast dou one fasblity tore vale of melodrama stades in general, (The taste ie gene er to dems i he ae fm sori eu andl contes Inking fr ext Hoye sebdamae portooed in leno weing ae “Te Melatunaic Mode Revised 1s ears wi net Mates aia a oe deine ‘Sova’ {.) Sah peor hve tony pest ot Seri ma aires rasa ot {ioral eclosion ‘ating ow cose beter ot Sy ‘Simalem oni oconcnmcs sd pemmcoe (8) By consequence, Hays and Nixlopoulo decide w feews on the theatcal trios of melodrama inte eileen and nineteenth fetus ao bracket off fs flies televislforms fn the ‘vente entry. Vet bile we age that melodrama needs 2 be ‘afl Nstoriiad and shoud not be associated with a general ‘snd unchaogina patem of (esbversve) poplar exoresion or f- ‘eon, we do think tha the cootnaies betwee he teas and Dre tons ofthe eighceth and ninsisens cates an the Fai and tlevisialeauctinets of th tents and Wwent)Fist enue ae 100 odour and fo ieterosing fo render sch & > Stitin necessary With this vlume, we hope to demenstste that ‘hex are many recipeties and carespondences in th difereniy smolated enacnet ofthe melodramatic mode, sechng fom the faleenh century to our day, even while tere ae jst 36 many red and disso tht requ explanation. "We tart fom the assmptien rer than eaung the poin-— that melodrama eed to be tae seriously. Thete is 9 need aay Tooger to esse” the sas of melodrama aginst he charge of t- aly or shallownese-—these bates have Been fought std they ‘ep wor fog ag. Instead, we mean to Jon closer mt pacar Fests and aspects of the melodramatic imagination over te. ‘The readings cllected in hs volume, focusiag on iret wani- 2 etn ngewe cera i ‘alg the sfeion etc by Rh Pele wher ep Sit eos ssn ttm he ose ‘St vist a oe 1 cov, al anyone ae ‘iy hee: lod ie 0 cetay be rset bet SM aod oumigrnty or leon scp eee Sredaton® (50 Yet we fly ene Poo’ il bearer FrSRe Ral place sf fms of Gl) pee a Ane be sve ins the Amer iy G13) CE ls ‘aja Pos cotton oa otra nd Nis Ris oe, Tod he ore exten fe ry me hag esta ‘Ejtjurse tndn of te nate ended ces6 Peo KEL RUTH MER Sexations of melorams from the eighteenth century novel to do- ‘imentary television programs, should bring to he fre the mite ‘red and heterogeneous gual four objeto reszarch. Works Cited Aan Rik “Dies, Gaia Flin Theory Ta” (889), Clase ipod Nava The Para ors Ew Gales. Da eae P92, 94 ~ Rese Pcp: Gene Prt the Rsyling Proce.” ‘pring tnerionie Gore ‘Ag. en. “lo in he Moai naan” (1982) oto of Lis 85, hooks, Re The eaten: Bas, Hoy Jame, Mel ‘Sama dt Nn of ace 1976 Ne Hae: Ye UP 195, Deck, Chi lon ihr Blick. Dar sole Meooma der ein ar,14090Farta:Crps, 208 ‘hoes, Thoma “Ta of Sand wot Futy Osean he ay sodans(1972) ion of Li, 694 ‘Bye Nanay. Te dating of rc Pn: icon UP 157 ‘Gail Cain “he Metre Pet An levxgaicn” Heme Wher te Hae Steer Melo od te Nos Fl Chine Geil Confetti, ‘inset Madame Ue dnrion Teatro [S50 Bekele U of Cfo, 147. ‘cuning Fo "To Cen of Arc” Due Aagle B4(198 418, ‘gu Mie frm Pabe Spe rate pace Saging be Dou of {he Act bry 2 Ce ping 1983) 17518, sod Asma Nelo elu, Meladana vie, Taj, Seley Eur he Tpit Bone arin, Pre ond Prod fn Mtr New Yr: Awe 1962 ntston of Ee A Rear Pi & Toto agama 8, Mana ety Dei: Weare Sate. ans, Co", Pasoine ante Conmast Nast” owning Ite Star 1058) enpl, To Reng a ting lath Moka, nd he "inde" Sf: Sc UP, 198 Mazo, ey. Heldrone adh Onova Blog: Indie drama te Cala Boge ofa Ge i cal ays Acs lapion Hound: Macs Pe 193 Nose, St "Qution of ee Flm Gere Rnd Bary Keith Ges 185 aif Ten 159, 1618 ‘he Made Moe Rv 0 Pook, Raph dee ge: Dai Bea's nd Mae Wes Dee ‘tna snl etslag et Amerian Melo” dno ten 8. (205) $1538 ‘eter nrc i Genes. 4, Nek Boo, Dt: Uo Clr ety Sin, Bon ams nd Madr: Ey Seta! Ciena ands ‘Syper, Wali, "Aesthetic ofthe Revolution: The Maris Metta” (1348), rope ion ond Form Rove W, Can New Yok ew YoU, Vii, Miata Une: Niwaens Centr Dose Nelo Ltry sey 13 al 9B) T-. ans Lei Satan Revd Ring dnt Ps Gs Png he Rect Cn Mtr of ack ad White rom Une Tr