Running late

The Silent Serial, the Clihanger, and the Exigencies of Time, 1914–1920

authored by: Ruth Mayer
Abstract: This chapter explores the temporal dimensions of serial storytelling in the silent film serial both on a structural level and as a plot contrivance. It approaches the silent serial as a unique cinematic mode with its very own conventions and practices, rather than a mere preparation for feature-film storytelling, and it focuses on the paradigmatically serial device of the cliffhanger. The chapter investigates the "pre-cliffhanger" serial The Hazards of Helen (1914-1917), in comparison to the cliffhanger serial A Woman in Grey (1920). Both serials revolve around "serial queens" and both draw heavily on temporally inflected narrative formulas such as the "last-minute rescue" or the chase, and they do so in ways that differ from the practices of the feature film. At the same time, these serials participate in a more pervasive cultural renegotiation of time and temporality, taking issue with the time politics of industrial modernity at large.
Organisation(s): LG American Studies
Type: Contribution to book/anthology
Pages: 618-638
No. of pages: 20
Publication date: 22.02.2024
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: General Social Sciences
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190496692.013.28 (Access: Closed)

BibTeX

@inbook{8b5afe52f2194b8fbdecea952e8a4ebe,
title = "Running late: The Silent Serial, the Clihanger, and the Exigencies of Time, 1914–1920",
abstract = "This chapter explores the temporal dimensions of serial storytelling in the silent film serial both on a structural level and as a plot contrivance. It approaches the silent serial as a unique cinematic mode with its very own conventions and practices, rather than a mere preparation for feature-film storytelling, and it focuses on the paradigmatically serial device of the cliffhanger. The chapter investigates the {"}pre-cliffhanger{"} serial The Hazards of Helen (1914-1917), in comparison to the cliffhanger serial A Woman in Grey (1920). Both serials revolve around {"}serial queens{"} and both draw heavily on temporally inflected narrative formulas such as the {"}last-minute rescue{"} or the chase, and they do so in ways that differ from the practices of the feature film. At the same time, these serials participate in a more pervasive cultural renegotiation of time and temporality, taking issue with the time politics of industrial modernity at large.",
keywords = "Cliffhangers, Film serials, Modernity, Serial queens, Temporality",
author = "Ruth Mayer",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Oxford University Press 2024. All rights reserved.",
year = "2024",
month = feb,
day = "22",
doi = "10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190496692.013.28",
language = "English",
isbn = "9780190496692",
pages = "618--638",
booktitle = "The Oxford Handbook of Silent Cinema",
publisher = "Oxford University Press",
address = "United Kingdom (UK)",
}