World Cinema in Translation---Wong Kar-wai and the (Re)contextualizing Function of the DVD.

摘要

This thesis will consider how the DVD medium shapes the conditions within which non-Western films are consumed, expectations are generated, and interpretations are formed. By way of illustration, it will analyze the extra-textual discourses surrounding Wong Kar-wai's most celebrated films, Chungking Express (1994) and In The Mood For Love (2000). I argue that these discourses, particularly when materially appended to the text as DVD "bonus features," significantly frame the viewer's access to the films. My aim is to consider the ways in which the DVDs' supplementary materials function as instruments of cultural translation, whereby the cultural particularities of the text are made accessible to the viewer. Moreover, the analysis of the DVDs and their "bonus features" can yield valuable insights into the different criteria and processes of canonization which have contributed to Wong's cult status as an auteur, and help to elucidate the role of translation in its formation.