Den här uppsatsen behandlar huruvida det finns ett multipelt auteurskap och om termen auteur kan appliceras på andra filmskapare än regissören. Utifrån syftet ställdes sedan två frågor: Vilken roll har manusförfattaren jämfört med regissören när det kommer till auteurskap över en film? Samt frågan om på vilket sätt ett multipelt auteurskap skulle kunna formuleras? För att undersöka dessa frågor användes sedan en komparativ metod där romanen Rebecca jämförs med dess filmiska adaptation samt filmens manus. Baserat i fallstudien av Rebecca (1940) diskuteras sedan regissörens roll gentemot filmmanusförfattarens och författarens, samt vad dessa roller får för konsekvenser i termer av auteurskap. / This essay examines whether there is a multiple auteurship and if the term auteur can be applied to other filmmakers than the director. Based on this purpose, two questions where formulated: What is the role of the screenplay-writer compared to the director’s when it comes to auteurship over a film? The paper also examines the question of how a possible multiple auteurship could be formulated. To examine these questions, a comparative method was used in which the novel Rebecca was compared with its cinematic adaptation, as well as the film's screenplay. Based on the case study of Rebecca (1940), the director’s role is thereafter discussed compared to the screenplay-writers and the authors roles, as well as what the consequences of these roles have in terms of auteurship.

This thesis looks at the life and works of Daphne du Maurier in the context of the inter-related ideas of religion, psychology and politics. Throughout, I use a methodology based on the concept of the palimpsest. But I also use theory provided by Jung, Plato and Nietzsche – all of which were known to du Maurier to a greater or lesser degree. Other theory is used occasionally, but only as it suggests itself in the context under consideration. The ideas of ‘Resurrection, Renaissance and Rebirth' give the thesis a structure and a theme. The interaction of Christianity and Paganism is also examined. Section One, ‘Introduction – Resurrecting Texts/Lives', introduces the idea of the palimpsest. In reality, this is a twice-written document frequently containing a Christian text which is written over a Pagan one, with the Pagan text resurrecting itself over time. In theory, the palimpsest is a textual space where disparate texts collide and collude in an involuted manner. Section Two, ‘Life and Text – Renaissance Inspired Men', looks at two men who drew their inspiration from the Renaissance as either age or idea - the socialist Victor Gollancz and the conservative Frank Buchman - and to what degree du Maurier interacted with both the people and their conceptual framework. Section Three, ‘Life into Text – Renaissance Men', concerns itself with du Maurier's biographies of two Renaissance brothers, Anthony and Francis Bacon, and how their lives have been read, gnostically, by herself and others, notably The Francis Bacon Society and Nietzsche. Section Four, ‘Spectralised Lives in Text - Rebirthing', examines how the foregoing discussion plays itself out in two of du Maurier's novels, Jamaica Inn (1936) and The Flight of the Falcon (1965). The chapter on Jamaica Inn looks at Celtic Revivalism and how the Celtic gods spectralise the characters of the novel leading to a rebirthing experience for the protagonist Mary Yellan – implicit in this is the concept of the Renaissance-as-idea. The chapter on The Flight of the Falcon shows how the Renaissance-as-age daimonises characters of the twentieth-century. The palimpsest as either a document or a theoretical perspective weaves itself in and out of all my chapters. Section Five, ‘Concluding Remarks', leads to two related conclusions, firstly that du Maurier has been spectralised by the Renaissance, and secondly that du Maurier's life and works, taken together, can be read as an involuted palimpsest.

My research explores Alfred Hitchcock’s use of adaptation and the impact that this has on his status as an ‘auteur’. The aim, through looking at a cross section of his work, is to produce the basis for an adaptation model that could be used to examine his entire body of work, accounting for all influences, extratextual references, intertextualities, sequels, remakes and most importantly, other authors. By exploring Hitchcock’s use of the theatrical (a subject that is often ignored) and his lesser earlier films, we can begin to form the foundations for this model. By looking at his adaptation of a particular author and the textual evolution of one of his most iconic films, we are able to put this model to the test. Chapter one is the introduction, which looks at Hitchcock’s status within cinematic history, while also examining the current state of Hitchcock scholarship, auteur theory and adaptations studies. Chapter two examines the theatrical adaptations of Hitchcock’s British period, specifically shining light upon texts that are often ignored or maligned by theoretical study. Chapter three discusses the American theatrical adaptations, specifically looking at the role of the ‘meta-text’ and Hitchcock’s fascination with recreating the theatrical. Chapter four explores Hitchcock’s relationship with Daphne du Maurier, examining his adaptation of her work, overall themes, characters and ideologies. This chapter also presents an original reading of The Birds, which examines how Hitchcock’s film is more indebted to Du Maurier’s novels than her shot story of avian horror. Chapter five examines the evolution of Psycho. Hitchcock’s adaptation of, amongst others, Robert Bloch and Henri-Georges Clouzot will be discussed, as will the multiple sequels, remakes and exploitations that, in turn, adapt his own film. It will be argued that these texts are in fact adapting Psycho’s influences and origins as much as the film itself. Chapter six is the conclusion where the findings are analysed and the model of adaptation, which positions Hitchcock at the centre as a collector of texts is discussed. In occupying this position the notion of him as an ‘auteur’ is erased and instead he becomes the ‘Master of Adaptation’.

This essay is a reading of Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 novel Rebecca from a queer theoretical perspective. The analysis discusses the fluidity of the character Rebecca, who despite being dead haunts almost every page. She embodies both masculine and feminine traits and is suggested to have had a sexual relationship with her housekeeper. Furthermore, this same-sex desire plays an important part in the sexual awakening of the novel’s young protagonist, who develops an obsession with Rebecca. The essay also looks at Manderley, the gothic estate where most of the plot takes place. Manderley is a place for both heteronormative oppression and transgression. Rebecca is a modern gothic novel and the gothic will therefore be an important part of the analysis.

Syftet med denna studie är att studera hur Du Mauriers roman Rebecca och filmatiseringen baserad på denna skiljer sig åt med inriktning på dialogerna. Genom att tillämpa en stilanalys från Hellspong kommer stildragen från respektive dialog påvisas och kompareras. Analysen visar att dialogerna är väldigt lika vad gäller stildrag och att dialogernas funktion skiljer sig åt. Resultatet antyder dels att det krävs olika stilar för att förmedla olika teman, dels att stil inte är bunden till innehållet samt att medierna påverkar dialogernas funktion. Slutsatsen är att stilen inte går att ändra på om rätt historia ska förmedlas, oavsett vilket medium det rör sig om, det handlar rättare sagt om att anpassa stilen till sammanhanget utan att ta bort det essentiella. Vidare kan denna studie påvisa möjliga kännetecken för dialogformen där bland annat stildragen verbal och dynamisk ingår.

Denna kandidatuppsats utforskar de tre skräcknovellerna ”Fåglarna” (1952), ”De blå linserna” (1959) och ”Äppelträdet” (1952) av Daphne du Maurier ur ett ekogotiskt perspektiv. Genom att använda begreppet ekogotik i kombination med teorier så som Simon C. Estoks ekofobi och Sigmund Freuds det kusliga undersöker denna uppsats relationer mellan mänskligt och icke-mänskligt, samt hur naturen kan användas för att framkalla känslor av det kusliga. Resultatet av analyserna visar bland annat att naturen är ett utmärkt verktyg att använda för att synliggöra det kusliga då den är ständigt närvarande i våra liv, och därför till synes också ”osynlig” för oss. Resultatet visar också att omkullkastandet av den antropocentriska relationen mellan mänskligt och icke-mänskligt är av stor vikt för novellernas förmåga att framkalla skräck.

This study examines the portrayal of the woman as monstrous in Daphne du Maurier’s short stories “The Apple Tree” and “The Blue Lenses” and investigates the abject emotions that female bodies induce within the main characters. The study also contrasts the habitual, objectifying gaze of the male focalizer with the reluctant gaze forced upon the female focalizer through a pair of lenses, argued here to represent the patriarchal suppression of woman, as the male gaze is key for mediating the abject in du Maurier’s stories. Additionally, the association of the natural world with the female body is discussed, as the subjugation of nature and women are closely connected in a patriarchal society, and these are both regarded as abject in du Maurier’s stories. It is concluded that gender is elemental to whether the main characters embrace or reject the abject feelings originating within themselves.

In the reading of the servants in examples from the period 1920-1950, the servant question is invoked to expose the workings of class. The servants in these narratives of Bowen, Green, Taylor, Waugh, Mansfield and Panter-Downes, lady’s maids, housekeepers, nannies, a butler and a chauffeur, are in thrall to the collective structures of societal ordering, and reluctant with respect to social mobility. Class was not fully being negotiated in this period, in fact little change was visible. Fer example intimacy, such as that between the lady’s maid and her mistress, meant that class confrontation was unlikely. The nanny showed that culturally constructed mechanisms such as nostalgia could be employed to discourage the desire for change. In terms of the socio-historical context any transformation in the make-up of domestic life – that is, the move towards homes without servants - was a fairly gradual business. But, there was a widespread belief in a change that had not really taken place – and that certainly had not taken place within domestic service. Any transformation of society was superficial; the governing ranks would not permit their disempowerment through genuine class change. I contend that the literature supports this perspective. Servants desire subservience; they find comfort in the familiarity of the system of household ranking-by-status. In the process, authority itself is portrayed as being less immutable, more malleable and thereby equipped for the future. In this sense the narratives read in this thesis go to make up a literature of resistance, in refutation of the overwhelming narrative of the time, progressing instead the notion that class must persist with its boundaries intact, as its hegemony is desirable and necessary for the smooth, successful operation of society.