The Return of the Victorian Mummy: Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy (2017), A Modern Orientalist Tale
As part of the Dark Universe reboot of Universal Monsters, Alex Kurtzman’s movie, The Mummy (2017) was meant to give new life to the Victorian monsters that fascinated Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s. As it happened, the film also gave new life to the ideological dynamics of Victorian and Edwardian...
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| Publicat a: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/polysemes, |
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| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Idioma: | Anglais |
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Polysèmes
2020
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| Accés en línia: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:polysemes_7449 |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:polysemes_7449 https://doi.org/10.4000/polysemes.7449 urn:doi:10.4000/polysemes.7449 en https://journals.openedition.org/polysemes/7449 2020-06-30T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/j6ao All rights reserved The Return of the Victorian Mummy: Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy (2017), A Modern Orientalist Tale Polysèmes SAIT info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2496-4212 info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/0999-4203 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/polysemes Corriou, Nolwenn reception studies mummy fiction imperial Gothic American imperialism orientalism réception momie gothique impérial impérialisme américain orientalisme As part of the Dark Universe reboot of Universal Monsters, Alex Kurtzman’s movie, The Mummy (2017) was meant to give new life to the Victorian monsters that fascinated Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s. As it happened, the film also gave new life to the ideological dynamics of Victorian and Edwardian mummy fiction by displacing them to reflect current global issues. Indeed, the anxieties and obsessions put forward by the authors of mummy fiction (Bram Stoker, Conan Doyle, etc.) within the genre of imperial Gothic are dramatised in Kurtzman’s film and brought up to date to resonate with contemporary issues. The original tales of the mummy constructed the female mummy as a terrifying as well as enthralling embodiment of an imperial Other who comes back to life to wreak revenge upon the transgressive male archaeologists who disturbed her rest. Therefore, the well-known motif of the mummy’s curse acts as a metaphor for imperial dynamics as well as an ominous projection of what may happen, should the Empire strike back. The gender of literary mummies also points to the fear of a patriarchal society confronted to the growing struggle of women for social and political empowerment. The political and gendered dimensions of mummy fiction were left out of the numerous film adaptations which only retain the monstrous character of a dead body come back to life to threaten the living. Alex Kurtzman’s film marks the return of the Victorian mummy as a female embodying radical Otherness and the threat of an Orient embroiled in an endless war with the West. Premier opus de la franchise destinée à redonner vie aux Universal Monsters des années 1940 et 1950 inspirés par la littérature britannique du XIXe siècle, The Mummy d’Alex Kurtzman (2017) redonne également vie aux dynamiques idéologiques qui sont celles de la littérature victorienne et édouardienne, qui a vu émerger la figure de la momie. Genre éminemment politique, la mummy fiction, telle qu’elle prend forme sous la plume d’auteurs tels que Bram Stoker ou Arthur Conan Doyle, se fait l’expression des angoisses et des obsessions liées à l’Empire britannique en déclin. Le film de Kurtzman, en plaçant le récit de la découverte de la momie à notre époque, offre un écho contemporain aux problématiques impériales de la fin du XIXe siècle. Les premiers récits de momie de la littérature populaire britannique ont construit la femme momifiée en tant que figure à la fois terrifiante et séduisante d’un Autre impérial revenu à la vie pour se venger de la transgression commise par l’archéologue qui l’aurait tirée de son sommeil. Ainsi, le célèbre motif de la malédiction de la momie peut être interprété comme une métaphore des dynamiques impériales et de la menace qui pèse sur la métropole, si l’Empire s’avisait de contre-attaquer. En outre, le genre des momies littéraires indique également la crainte d’une société patriarcale confrontée à une lutte pour l’autonomie politique et sociale de la femme en plein essor. Si les dimensions politique et genrée ont le plus souvent été oubliées dans les nombreuses adaptations cinématographiques des récits de momie, le film d’Alex Kurtzman marque le retour de la momie victorienne en tant qu’incarnation d’une altérité radicale et d’un Orient éternellement en guerre contre l’Occident. |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
reception studies mummy fiction imperial Gothic American imperialism orientalism réception momie gothique impérial impérialisme américain orientalisme |
| spellingShingle |
reception studies mummy fiction imperial Gothic American imperialism orientalism réception momie gothique impérial impérialisme américain orientalisme Corriou, Nolwenn The Return of the Victorian Mummy: Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy (2017), A Modern Orientalist Tale |
| description |
As part of the Dark Universe reboot of Universal Monsters, Alex Kurtzman’s movie, The Mummy (2017) was meant to give new life to the Victorian monsters that fascinated Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s. As it happened, the film also gave new life to the ideological dynamics of Victorian and Edwardian mummy fiction by displacing them to reflect current global issues. Indeed, the anxieties and obsessions put forward by the authors of mummy fiction (Bram Stoker, Conan Doyle, etc.) within the genre of imperial Gothic are dramatised in Kurtzman’s film and brought up to date to resonate with contemporary issues. The original tales of the mummy constructed the female mummy as a terrifying as well as enthralling embodiment of an imperial Other who comes back to life to wreak revenge upon the transgressive male archaeologists who disturbed her rest. Therefore, the well-known motif of the mummy’s curse acts as a metaphor for imperial dynamics as well as an ominous projection of what may happen, should the Empire strike back. The gender of literary mummies also points to the fear of a patriarchal society confronted to the growing struggle of women for social and political empowerment. The political and gendered dimensions of mummy fiction were left out of the numerous film adaptations which only retain the monstrous character of a dead body come back to life to threaten the living. Alex Kurtzman’s film marks the return of the Victorian mummy as a female embodying radical Otherness and the threat of an Orient embroiled in an endless war with the West. |
| author |
Corriou, Nolwenn |
| author_facet |
Corriou, Nolwenn |
| author_sort |
Corriou, Nolwenn |
| title |
The Return of the Victorian Mummy: Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy (2017), A Modern Orientalist Tale |
| title_short |
The Return of the Victorian Mummy: Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy (2017), A Modern Orientalist Tale |
| title_full |
The Return of the Victorian Mummy: Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy (2017), A Modern Orientalist Tale |
| title_fullStr |
The Return of the Victorian Mummy: Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy (2017), A Modern Orientalist Tale |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Return of the Victorian Mummy: Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy (2017), A Modern Orientalist Tale |
| title_sort |
return of the victorian mummy: alex kurtzman’s the mummy (2017), a modern orientalist tale |
| publisher |
Polysèmes |
| publishDate |
2020 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/polysemes |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/polysemes.7449 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/polysemes/7449 |
| _version_ |
1877293965947961344 |