Jack the Ripper in Film and Culture - Top Hat, Gladstone Bag and Fog

In 1888 the name Jack the Ripper entered public consciousness with the brutal murders of women in the East End of London. The murderer was never caught, yet film and television depicts a killer with a recognisable costume, motive and persona. This book examines the origins of the screen presentation of the four key elements associated with the murders - Jack the Ripper, the victims, the detective and Whitechapel. Nineteenth-century history, art and literature, psychoanalytical theories of Freud and Jung and feminist film theory are all used to deconstruct the representation of Jack the Ripper on screen. 

List of contents

Introduction.- Chapter 1. Historical and Cultural Context.- Chapter 2. Psychoanalytical Approach.- Chapter 3. Feminist Film Theory.- Chapter 4 Jack the Ripper.- Chapter 5. The Detective.- Chapter 6. The Victims.- Chapter 7. Whitechapel.- Conclusion.- Bibliography.- Filmography.

About the author

Clare Smith is the Collection Manager for the Art Collection at Amgueddfa Cymru –National Museum Wales, UK. She has an academic background in history of art and a PhD in Film Studies. Her research interests include the depiction of murder in art, film and television, and the depiction of women in nineteenth-century British art. 

Summary

In 1888 the name Jack the Ripper entered public consciousness with the brutal murders of women in the East End of London. The murderer was never caught, yet film and television depicts a killer with a recognisable costume, motive and persona. This book examines the origins of the screen presentation of the four key elements associated with the murders – Jack the Ripper, the victims, the detective and Whitechapel. Nineteenth-century history, art and literature, psychoanalytical theories of Freud and Jung and feminist film theory are all used to deconstruct the representation of Jack the Ripper on screen. 

Additional text

“It is an academic examination of the films about Jack the Ripper. … it’s quite a good book and in places it’s though-provoking. … it’s an interesting look at elements of Jack movies that you probably won’t have noticed.” (Ripperologist, Issue 6, June, 2016)

Report

"It is an academic examination of the films about Jack the Ripper. ... it's quite a good book and in places it's though-provoking. ... it's an interesting look at elements of Jack movies that you probably won't have noticed." (Ripperologist, Issue 6, June, 2016)

Product details

• Authors: Clare Smith
• Publisher: Springer Palgrave Macmillan
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.01.2018
• EAN: 9781349956043
• ISBN: 978-1-349-95604-3
• No. of pages: 211
• Dimensions: 148 mm x 12 mm x 210 mm
• Weight: 296 g
• Illustrations: X, 211 p.
• Series: Crime Files; Crime Files
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; Sozial- und Kulturgeschichte, Filmgeschichte, Filmtheorie und Filmkritik, B, Literatur: Geschichte und Kritik, Literaturwissenschaft, allgemein, Cultural History, Comparative Literature, Film History, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Social and cultural history, Literary studies: general, Civilization—History, Literature and Technology, Literature and Technology/Media, Literature—History and criticism, Literary History, Film and TV History, Motion pictures—History, Literature: history and criticism, Film history, theory or criticism, Mass media and literature