Victoria-Arcana and the Misogynistic Poetics of Resistance in Iain Sinclair’s White Chappell Scarlet Tracings and Alan Moore’s From Hell

Citation

Ferguson C (2009) Victoria-Arcana and the Misogynistic Poetics of Resistance in Iain Sinclair’s White Chappell Scarlet Tracings and Alan Moore’s From Hell. LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory, 20 (1-2), pp. 45-64. https://doi.org/10.1080/10436920802690430

Abstract
Like the graphic novel on which it is based, the 2002 DVD release of the Hughes Brothers' Jack the Ripper film From Hell comes with its own set of explanatory paratexts. In the "Tour of the Murder Sites" feature, the brothers guide us through the ersatz Whitechapel set they were compelled to construct in Prague due to the prohibitive costs of filming in the real London. Here, as they proudly describe the accuracy of the reconstructed locations ("This outhouse back here looked pretty much exactly the same way!"), they produce a moment far more horrifying than any they were ever able to evoke in their otherwise disappointing and kitschy adaptation. The brothers stand over an eerie model of alleged Ripper victim Martha Tabram, snickering like schoolboys over the lifelike precision and technological sophistication of their expensive new toy.

Journal
LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory: Volume 20, Issue 1-2

People

Professor Christine Ferguson

Professor in English, English Studies