E-Book Overview
Almost all students have seen <em>2001, but virtually none understand its inheritance, its complexities, and certainly not its ironies. The essays in this collection, commissioned from a wide variety of scholars, examine in detail various possible readings of the film and its historical context. They also examine the film as a genre piece--as the summa of science fiction that simultaneously looks back on the science fiction conventions of the past (Kubrick began thinking of making a science fiction film during the genre's heyday in the fifties), rethinks the convention in light of the time of the film's creation, and in turn changes the look and meaning of the genre that it revived--which now remains as prominent as it was almost four decades ago. Constructed out of its director's particular intellectual curiosity, his visual style, and his particular notions of the place of human agency in the world and, in this case, the universe, <em>2001 is, like all of his films, more than it appears, and it keeps revealing more the more it is seen. Though their backgrounds and disciplines differ, the authors of this essay collection are united by a talent for vigorous yet incisive writing that cleaves closely to the text--to the film itself, with its contextual and intrinsic complexities--granting readers privileged access to Kubrick's formidable, intricate classic work of science fiction.
E-Book Content
STANLEY KUBRICK’S 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
This page intentionally left blank
EDITED BY ROBERT KOLKER
STANLEY KUBRICK’S 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY NEW ESSAYS
3 2006
3 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Copyright © 2006 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: a space odyssey : new essays / [edited by] Robert Kolker. p. cm. ISBN-13 978-0-19-517452-6; 978-0-19-517453-3 (pbk.) ISBN 0-19-517452-6; 0-19-517453-4 (pbk.) 1. 2001, a space odyssey (Motion picture) I. Kolker, Robert Phillip. PN1997.T86S73 2006 791.43'72—dc22 2005016290 Chapter 9: Excerpt from The Following Story, copyright © 1991 by Cees Nooteboom, English translation © Harvill 1994, reprinted by permission of Harcourt, Inc.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
Thanks to everyone at OUP: copyeditor Merryl Sloane, production editor Stacey Hamilton, Abby Russell, and Elissa Morris, a wonderful and gracious editor.
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Introduction 3 robert kolker 1 2001: The Critical Reception and the Generation Gap r. barton palmer 2 Auteur with a Capital A james gilbert
29
3 The Gravity of 2001: A Space Odyssey j. p. telotte 4 Kubrick in Space stephen mamber
13
43
55
5 Of Men and Monoliths: Science Fiction, Gender, and 2001: A Space Odyssey 69 barry keith grant 6 The Cinematographic Brain in 2001: A Space Odyssey marcia landy
87
7 Readi