Operatic Code and the Concept of «Death of the Author» in Francis Ford Coppolaʼs Film «Tetro»

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to reveal intertextual connections through the prism of the opera code and to reveal the metatextual layer of F. Coppola’s film “Tetro” in the context of R. Barthes’ concept of “the death of the author”. The research methodology involves a combination of semiotic analysis and the theory of intertextuality with the involvement of R. Barthes’ poststructuralist ideas. The scientific novelty lies in the interpretation of intertextual relationships and the opera code, aimed at revealing the hidden narrative of the film. Conclusions. In F. Coppola’s film “Tetro” (2009), in addition to the “frontal” semi-autobiographical narrative, a significant intertextual layer is distinguished, as well as a metanarrative that emphasizes the issues of poststructuralism (the relationship between the author, text, language, writing) and appears as the embodiment of Roland Barthes’ concept of “the death of the author”, played out “in persons”. Such an interpretation becomes possible due to the combination of the modes of “cinematic truth” and “operatic convention”, the introduced cinematic symbol of intertextuality, as well as wide intertextual connections, which are realised, among other things, with the help of the opera code. The opera code acts as a genetic prototype of intertextuality and actualises intertextual connections. They weaken the narrative about the collisions of the Tetrocini family and reveal a parallel metadiscourse. In the context of the semiotic approach, a specific tension, which is perceived by the viewer, arises when trying to describe the phenomena of text, writing, author, language, the work of intertextuality mechanisms, and the genesis of the text using cinematic means. At the same time, the problems of genesis, history, and continuity appear common to family and literature, which reveal the theme of the “torments of creativity” of the modern author in the total field of intertextuality. Further research into the operatic code of the cinematic text, embodied by various means, is envisaged: mention in dialogues, visual marker, musical quote, film quote.