Hannah Jame

Synopsis

Jealousy Alain Robbe-Grillet

Jealousy is a short novel written by Alain Robbe-Grillet in 1957. Robbe-Grillet is a French author and film maker born in 1922, he is known for being a key figure in the Nouveau Roman movement of writing – a new, experimental form of novel. Jealousy is Robbe-Grillet’s fourth book.

Jealousy is set on a banana plantation and traces the lives of a couple who live on the plantation. The narrator of the book is anonymous in that his identity is unknown to the reader and all we learn about him is implied through other statements rather than being explicit. The narrator’s wife, who is also anonymous to degree being just referred to as ‘A…’, is suggested to be having an affair with a neighbor, Franck. Franck frequents the house most evenings and they all dine together.

The novels structure is based around this one location, which is described by the narrator in great detail. The book begins with a floor plan of the house, allowing the reader to build an image in their mind of this space from the outset. Robbe-Grillet’s writing uses an obsessive style of description focusing on shape, light, size, form, colour and texture which builds a detailed image of the house for the reader. Geometry is used as a descriptive tool, for example he describes the flies as ‘orbiting’ a light at various angles and degrees. Robbe-Grillet also uses the houses formal structure as a way of giving a sense of time passing by, for example, referring to the shadows moving across the veranda; using the house as sundial.

One of the most striking aspects of Jealousy is the anachronistic sense of time that Robbe-Grillet creates. There is a constant looping and repetition of events and scenarios that begin to step out of the normal chronology of time. For example breakfast is followed by the evening meal which then returns to midday and an event such as ‘A..’ and Franck visiting the local town together are endlessly repeated. The effect of this constant cyclical structure is one of an extremely hermetic and claustrophobic space.

Although the narrator’s personal emotions and opinions are mainly repressed it is implied to the audience through observation that his wife is having an affair with Franck. As such an atmosphere of suspicion, distrust and resentment is suggested within this central relationship. Through objective description it is also implied that the narrator may be spying on his wife through window blinds and doorways within the house.

The killing of a centipede becomes an important symbol within this repeating narrative as it creates a form of symbolic closure within an agonizingly cyclical structure. The centipede is squashed and killed by Franck on the wall of the house at ‘A’s…’ request, and this image becomes a haunting reminder of a creature that was once living.

The book concludes with no clear resolution, the endless cycle of dishonesty and the repression of emotions is continued from the looping structure established at the beginning.

Selected Interiors, Cotham School

Selected Interiors, Cotham School is collection of twenty two 35mm colour slides which are presented on a rotating slide carousel projector. The projector is placed on the floor and the projected image is around 20x30cm. The colours in the slides are of a vivid nature and the sound of the projector rotating is present in the space. The slides depict books that have been opened on particular pages presenting photographs of 20th century paintings within an ‘art book’ format accompanied by explanatory text. Each painting depicts a form of domesticated interior space. In some of the slides hands and fingers are visible pointing at particular paintings and in others the slides have been drawn and written on directly, presumably to focus the viewers attention.

Screen #5, St Thomas’ Sq (photograph montage)

Screen #5, St Thomas’ Sq (photograph montage) is a framed work of 60x60cm. Inside the frame there is an off white mount with five 35mm black and white photographs, each being 10x18cm. The photographs are laid out in an unsymmetrical format where by no photograph has the same distance between itself and its surrounding images in relation to the rest. This creates a montage effect where the eye cannot settle easily on one image, instead encouraging a constant movement with no clear beginning or end. The photographs depict a small oblong shaped park, which is enclosed by a fence and surrounded by buildings. In the center of the park is a screen like structure that is made from a simple frame with three central panels. The position of the photographs revolve around the object as well as moving closer and further away. It is daytime as the sunlight and its shadows are visible.

Screen #4, Milan (structure)

Screen #4, Milan (structure) is a wooden structure made from four sections each being 50cmx170 each. These sections stand up straight in a slightly arched formation (if viewed from above) supported by wooden struts at the back in the center of each panel. The two side sections have ‘L’ shaped cut outs from their inner most side, which are in turn used as the supports behind. The wood is left untreated and the grain is visible. On the front of the two central panels is a printed motif. This is formed of two overlapping oblong shapes that are produced with a dark blue ink. The print is made up of tiny cross-hatched squares which resemble a thick weave. The prints are of varying density with the first layer being lighter and the second heavier, but the two panels do not match exactly.