{"id":32,"date":"2015-10-29T10:31:54","date_gmt":"2015-10-29T09:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.larioja.com\/entre-paginas\/?p=32"},"modified":"2015-10-29T10:31:54","modified_gmt":"2015-10-29T09:31:54","slug":"especial-halloween-entrevista-a-david-j-skal-autor-de-hollywood-gotico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.larioja.com\/entre-paginas\/2015\/10\/29\/especial-halloween-entrevista-a-david-j-skal-autor-de-hollywood-gotico\/","title":{"rendered":"Entrevista a David J. Skal, autor de \u2018Hollywood g\u00f3tico\u2019 | Interview to David J. Skal, author of 'Hollywood gothic'"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Sus trabajos lo avalan como uno de los estudiosos fundamentales de la cultura del horror<\/strong>. Escritor, cr\u00edtico y director de documentales, el estadounidense David J. Skal salt\u00f3 de la ficci\u00f3n al ensayo con \u2018Hollywood g\u00f3tico\u2019<\/a> en 1990, libro recientemente publicado en Espa\u00f1a por EsPop Ediciones. \u00c9ste, junto con \u2018Monster show\u2019, es uno de sus ensayos m\u00e1s c\u00e9lebres sobre los personajes que nos han aterrorizado<\/strong> durante d\u00e9cadas. En su entrevista nos habla de su trabajo como investigador, sus gustos, la inmortalidad de Dr\u00e1cula y su pr\u00f3ximo libro, en el que continuar\u00e1 ampliando horizontes sobre el famoso conde.<\/p>\n

His works endorse him as one of the fundamental scholars of the culture of horror. Writer, critic and documentary filmmaker, the american David J. Skal jumped from fiction to essay with ‘Hollywood Gothic’, recently published in Spain by EsPop Ediciones. This book, together with ‘Monster show’ is one of his most celebrated essays about the characters that have terrorized us during decades. In his interview, he talks about\u00a0his work as a researcher, tastes, immortality of Dracula and his next book, which will continue to expand horizons about the famous Count.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

– \u00bfCu\u00e1ndo descubriste el personaje de Dr\u00e1cula?<\/strong><\/p>\n

– When did you discovered the character \u2018Dr\u00e1cula\u2019?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Le\u00ed la novela de Bram Stoker cuando ten\u00eda trece a\u00f1os, y me sorprendi\u00f3 lo diferente que era el personaje comparado con la forma en que lo interpretaba Bela Lugosi en la famosa versi\u00f3n en pel\u00edcula de 1931, y todas las imitaciones que le siguieron. Era parte de una generaci\u00f3n de gente joven que descubri\u00f3 los monstruos en el apogeo de la Guerra Fr\u00eda, y, en retrospectiva, creo que el miedo a una muerte apocal\u00edptica nuclear nos impuls\u00f3 a muchos de nosotros a identificarse con monstruos, seres fant\u00e1sticos que no pod\u00edan morir, y que pod\u00edan sobrevivir a todo. En este sentido, la idea de Dr\u00e1cula era muy consoladora, y nos proporcionaba una especie de manta de seguridad nuclear.<\/p>\n

I read the Bram Stoker novel when I was thirteen years old, and was surprised at how different the character was compared to the way Bela Lugosi performed the role in the famous 1931 movie version, and all the imitations that followed. I was part of a generation of young people who discovered monsters at the height of the Cold War, and in retrospect I believe that the fear of apocalyptic nuclear death prompted many of us to identify with monsters, fantastic beings that could not die, and who could survive anything. In this sense, the idea of Dracula was very comforting, and provided a kind of nuclear security blanket.<\/em><\/p>\n

– \u00bfPor qu\u00e9 decidiste escribir \u2018Hollywood g\u00f3tico\u2019?<\/strong><\/p>\n

– Why did you decided to write \u2018Hollywood Gothic’?<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Empec\u00e9 mi carrera como un escritor de ciencia ficci\u00f3n, y he publicado historias y novelas que desdibujan los l\u00edmites entre el sci-fi y el horror. Mi agente literario pens\u00f3 que deb\u00eda considerar escribir historias de horror, o de no ficci\u00f3n sobre un tema de horror. Record\u00e9 lo interesado que estaba en la pel\u00edcula de Bela Lugosi, la he visto por lo menos cien veces, pero nunca hab\u00eda le\u00eddo la historia \u2018detr\u00e1s de las c\u00e1maras\u2019 de c\u00f3mo se hizo la pel\u00edcula. Veinte editores coincidieron en que se trataba de un libro que val\u00eda la pena escribir, y finalmente escog\u00ed W.W. Norton & Company, una importante editorial de Nueva York, para trabajar conmigo.<\/p>\n

I began my career as a science fiction writer, and had published stories and novels that blurred the boundaries between s-f and horror. My literary agent thought I should consider writing horror stories, or nonfiction on a horror subject. I remembered how interested I was in the Bela Lugosi film–I’d watched it at least 100 times–but I had never read the behind-the-scenes story of how the film came to be made. Twenty publishers agreed that it was a book worth writing, and I finally chose W.W. Norton & Company, a major New York publisher, <\/strong>to work with me.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Creo que el miedo a una muerte apocal\u00edptica nuclear nos impuls\u00f3 a muchos de nosotros a identificarse con monstruos”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

– Hay muchos libros sobre la historia de Dr\u00e1cula, \u00bfqu\u00e9 crees que aporta el tuyo?<\/strong><\/p>\n

– There are a lot of books about the history of Dr\u00e1cula, what do you think brings yours?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Hollywood g\u00f3tico\u2019 fue el primer libro en profundizar en la incre\u00edble variedad de personalidades, muchos de ellos entretenidamente obsesivos, que trataron de dar forma y controlar y transformar la historia de Stoker en el campo del teatro y las pel\u00edculas. Fui el primer investigador en examinar la correspondencia de la viuda de Stoker en la Biblioteca Brit\u00e1nica, abarcando su lucha legal para que la pel\u00edcula de 1922 \u2018Nosferatu\u2019 fuese declarada plagio y destruida. Ella consigui\u00f3 el ordenamiento jur\u00eddico, pero los negativos de la pel\u00edcula sobrevivieron. Tambi\u00e9n descubr\u00ed los papeles de la negociaci\u00f3n entre Universal Pictures, Florence Stoker y los dos dramaturgos, Hamilton Deane y John L. Bladerston, que ten\u00edan sus propias agendas. Es incre\u00edble que la pel\u00edcula siempre sobreviviese a todas las negociaciones que se hicieron. Ahora, por supuesto, es un hito en la historia del cine.<\/p>\n

“Hollywood Gothic” was the first book to delve into the amazing assortment of personalities, many of them entertainingly obsessive, who tried to shape and control and transform Stoker’s story in the realm of theatre and movies. I was the first researcher to examine Stoker’s widow’s correspondence at the British Library covering her legal fight to have the 1922 film “Nosferatu” declared a plagiarism and destroyed. She got the legal order, but the film’s negative survived. I also uncovered all the negotiation papers between Universal Pictures, Florence Stoker, and the two playwrights, Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, who all had their own agendas. It’s amazing the film ever survived the negotiations actually got made. Now, of course, it’s a landmark in the history of cinema.<\/em><\/p>\n

– Tu libro tiene un mont\u00f3n de an\u00e9cdotas y documentos gr\u00e1ficos, \u00bfcu\u00e1l es tu favorito?<\/strong><\/p>\n

– Your book have a lot of anecdotes and graphic documents, what is your favorite?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Estoy muy orgulloso de mi documentaci\u00f3n sobre la versi\u00f3n en espa\u00f1ol de 1931 de \u2018Dr\u00e1cula\u2019, producida simult\u00e1neamente por Universal en los mismos decorados, pero con un casting y un equipo diferentes. Viaj\u00e9 a la Habana en 1989 para examinar la \u00fanica copia completa conocida de la pel\u00edcula, y mis esfuerzos finalmente llevaron a Universal a restaurar la pel\u00edcula para video dom\u00e9stico, donde demostr\u00f3 ser un \u00e9xito de ventas. Este Halloween, est\u00e1 siendo mostrada teatralmente a trav\u00e9s de los Estados Unidos, en un programa doble con la pel\u00edcula de Lugosi.<\/p>\n

I’m most proud of my documentation of the 1931 Spanish-language version of “Dracula,” produced simultaneously by Universal on the same sets, but with a different cast and crew. I traveled to Havana in 1989 to examine the only known complete print of the film, and my efforts eventually led to Universal restoring the film for home video, where it proved to be a best-seller. This Halloween, it’s being shown theatrically across the United States, on a double bill with the Lugosi film.<\/em><\/p>\n

– \u00bfC\u00f3mo fue el proceso de documentaci\u00f3n?, \u00bfcu\u00e1nto tiempo te llev\u00f3 reunir toda la informaci\u00f3n?<\/strong><\/p>\n

– How was the process of documentation?, how many time did it take you to have all the information?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pas\u00e9 un a\u00f1o entero investigando para la edici\u00f3n original de 1990, incluyendo viajes a Londres, Par\u00eds, Los \u00c1ngeles y Cuba, y otro medio a\u00f1o escribi\u00e9ndolo. Para la edici\u00f3n revisada de 2004, en el que est\u00e1 basada la nueva traduci\u00f3n en espa\u00f1ol, pas\u00e9 otro a\u00f1o. Casi la mitad del libro fue completamente reescrita para incluir nuevos descubrimientos de investigaci\u00f3n y nueva conclusiones.<\/p>\n

I spent a full year researching the original 1990 edition, including trips to London, Paris, Los Angeles, and Cuba, and another half year writing it. For the 2004 revised edition–the one on which the new Spanish translation is based–I spent another year. About half the book was completely rewritten to include new research discoveries, and new conclusions.<\/em><\/p>\n

– \u00bfCu\u00e1l es tu pel\u00edcula o libro favorito sobre Dr\u00e1cula?<\/strong><\/p>\n

– What is your favorite film or book about Dr\u00e1cula?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mi adaptaci\u00f3n cinematogr\u00e1fica favorita de \u2018Dracula\u2019 es la producci\u00f3n televisiva de la BBC de 1977 con Louis Jourdan, que sigue la historia original de Stoker mejor que otras. Sin querer parecer demasiado autocomplaciente, elegir\u00eda \u2018Hollywood g\u00f3tico\u2019 como mi libro favorito sobre Dr\u00e1cula. Lo escrib\u00ed porque encontraba todo lo dem\u00e1s que se hab\u00eda publicado incompleto e insatisfactorio. Tambi\u00e9n quer\u00eda contar la historia utilizando mis habilidades como novelista. Nunca he le\u00eddo un libro sobre Dr\u00e1cula que haya tratado la historia en una forma narrativa dram\u00e1tica. No creo que nadie lo haya hecho antes. Un libro que cubre Dr\u00e1cula y los vampiros en general que realmente admiro es \u2018Our vampires, ourselves\u2019, de Nina Auerbach.<\/p>\n

My favorite film adaptation of “Dracula” is the 1977 BBC television production with Louis Jourdan, which follows Stoker’s original story better than any others. Without seeming too-self-congratulatory, I would choose ‘Hollywood Gothic’ as my favorite book about Dracula. I wrote it because I found everything else that had been published incomplete and unsatisfying. I also wanted to tell the story using my skills as a novelist. I had never read a book about Dracula that had treated the history in a dramatic narrative way. I don’t think anyone had done this before. One book coveringDracula and vampires generally that I truly admire is Nina Auerbach’s “Our Vampires, Ourselves.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Escrib\u00ed ‘Hollywood g\u00f3tico’ porque encontraba todo lo dem\u00e1s que se hab\u00eda publicado incompleto e insatisfactorio”<\/span><\/p>\n

-\u00bfCrees que el fen\u00f3meno de Dr\u00e1cula parar\u00e1 alg\u00fan d\u00eda?<\/strong><\/p>\n

-Do you think that the Dr\u00e1cula phenomenon will stop some day?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

No. Como el monstruo de Frankenstein, Dr\u00e1cula ha alcanzado el estatus de mito viviente, permanece vivo a trav\u00e9s de su completa habilidad de transformarse y adaptarse. El Dr\u00e1cula que conocemos hoy no ser\u00eda reconocido por Bram Stoker, al igual que quiz\u00e1 nosotros no seamos capaces de reconocer las nuevas formas que Dr\u00e1cula tome en el futuro.<\/p>\n

No. Like the Frankenstein monster, Dracula has achieved the status of a living myth, that stays alive because through its sheer ability to transform and adapt. The Dracula we know today wouldn’t be recognized by Bram Stoker, just as we might not be able to recognize the new shapes taken by Dracula in the future.<\/em><\/p>\n

– \u00bfCu\u00e1l crees que ser\u00e1 su futuro?<\/strong><\/p>\n

-What do you think is his future?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Transformaci\u00f3n sin fin. Dr\u00e1cula vive eternamente porque, como un buen pol\u00edtico, sabe instintivamente como ser de todo para todo el mundo.<\/p>\n

Endless transformation. <\/strong>Dracula lives eternally because, like a good politician, he knows instinctively how to be all things to all people.<\/em><\/p>\n

-H\u00e1blanos de los proyectos en los que est\u00e1s trabajando<\/strong><\/p>\n

-Tell us about the projects in that you are working on<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Acabo de terminar una nueva biograf\u00eda de Bram Stoker llamada \u2018Something in the blood\u2019, que ser\u00e1 publicada el a\u00f1o que viene. Es una recopilaci\u00f3n de todas las investigaciones y escritos que he hecho sobre Stoker y Dr\u00e1cula, e incluye muchos descubrimientos nuevos. Trae el trabajo que empec\u00e9 con \u2018Hollywood g\u00f3tico\u2019, completando el c\u00edrculo 25 a\u00f1os despu\u00e9s, y espero que responda, o empiece a responder, muchas de las cuestiones que han perplejado a bi\u00f3grafos previos, incluyendo sus m\u00e9todos creativos y su psicolog\u00eda sexual. Stoker ha sido un tema muy dif\u00edcil porque escribi\u00f3 muy poco acerca de s\u00ed mismo y sus intenciones literarias, pero he descubierto muchos documentos nuevos, y he llegado a algunas conclusiones sorprendentes.<\/p>\n

I’ve just finished a new biography of Bram Stoker called SOMETHING IN THE BLOOD, which will be published next year. It’s a culmination of all the research and writing I’ve done about Stoker and Dracula, and includes many new discoveries. It brings the work I began with ‘Hollywood Gothic’ full circle after 25 years, and I hope it answers–or starts to answer–many of the questions that have perplexed previous biographers, including his creative methods and his sexual psychology. Stoker has been a very challenging subject because he wrote very little about himself and his literary intentions, but I’ve discovered many new documents, and have come to some surprising conclusions.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sus trabajos lo avalan como uno de los estudiosos fundamentales de la cultura del horror. Escritor, cr\u00edtico y director de documentales, el estadounidense David J. Skal salt\u00f3 de la ficci\u00f3n al ensayo con \u2018Hollywood g\u00f3tico\u2019 en 1990, libro recientemente publicado en Espa\u00f1a por EsPop Ediciones. \u00c9ste, junto con \u2018Monster show\u2019, es uno de sus ensayos […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[16,27,41,48,68,69,94,98,130,147],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.larioja.com\/entre-paginas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.larioja.com\/entre-paginas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.larioja.com\/entre-paginas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.larioja.com\/entre-paginas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.larioja.com\/entre-paginas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.larioja.com\/entre-paginas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.larioja.com\/entre-paginas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.larioja.com\/entre-paginas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.larioja.com\/entre-paginas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}