William S. Burroughs’ The Cut-ups (1967) – the Limits of Control – МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЙ ЖУРНАЛ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЙ КУЛЬТУРЫ

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Daria V. BARYSHNIKOVA
Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen University
17-19, Kármánstr. Aachen, Germany 52062
Doctoral Candidate
Кандидат философских наук
e-mail: baryshnikova.dasha@gmail.com
ORCID: 0000-0001-6471-8685

William S. Burroughs’ The Cut-ups (1967) – the Limits of Control

Abstract: The paper considers the specificity of William S. Burroughs’ experiments with the cut-up technique in film in relation to the concepts of control in contemporary culture. In particular, it discusses how the cut-up technique can be used to oppose the power structures of language, ideology, and society. The hypothesis pursued here is: by questioning the nature of perceived reality, the cut-ups create and explore other realities, thereby demonstrating that unconditional truths are cultural constructs. By focusing, on the one hand, on the narrative strategies of representation in the film and, on the other hand, on the cognitive processes presented on the screen, this paper argues that despite the fact that The Cut-ups is difficult to perceive as a coherent text, since there is no plot in the film, it can be narrativized. Namely, as a result of emotional or physical involvement in experiencing rhythmic and semantic repetitions, viewers based of the keys given by the film can form their own stories, directly or indirectly following from what is happening on the screen. This analysis leads to the conclusion that the cut-up technique is aimed to remove the totality (as a power structure) of any text by recreating the constant fragmentation of sensory experience or revealing psychosensory processes. At the same time, the paper provides additional insight into the implications of narrativization on texts previously viewed as incomprehensible. In doing so, it interrogates the link between narrativity and performance, stressing the performative aspects of narrativity in cut-ups.

Key words: William S. Burroughs, The Cut-ups, cut-up tech-nique, fragmentary narrative, representation of mind processes.

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For Citation:

Baryshnikova, D. William S. Burroughs’ The Cut-ups (1967) – the Limits of Control. International Journal of Cultural Research, 3 (44). 35–52. DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2021_3_35

DOI: 0000-0001-6471-8685