Norman M. Klein's "Bleeding Through: Layers of Los Angeles," by Norman M. Klein and Jens Martin Gurr

Jens Martin Gurr (ed.)

Norman M. Klein's “Bleeding Through: Layers of Los Angeles”

Urban Studies

Norman M. Klein, born in 1945, is professor in the School of Critical Studies at the California Institute of the Arts, and the author, for instance, of “The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory” (1997/2008) and “The Vatican to Vegas: The History of Special Effects” (2004), the multimedia historical novel, “The Imaginary 20th Century” (2016), “Freud in Coney Island and Other Tales” (2006). A critic, urban and media historian, and novelist, he has written extensively on the culture and politics of Los Angeles, on cinema, and on architecture. Jens Martin Gurr, born in 1974, is a professor of British and Anglophone Literature and Culture at the University of Duisburg-Essen. He is co-founder and speaker of the Competence Field Metropolitan Research in the Universitätsallianz Ruhr (KoMet). His research areas include literary urban studies, theories and methods of urban and metropolitan research, model theory, literature and climate change as well as British literature of the 17th to the 21st centuries and contemporary US fiction.

Jens Martin Gurr (ed.)

Norman M. Klein's “Bleeding Through: Layers of Los Angeles”

An Updated Edition 20 Years Later

With original texts from the 1st edition of Norman M. Klein's “Bleeding Through: Layers of Los Angeles 1920-1986” published by Hatje Cantz Publishers (2003).

The publication of this volume has been generously supported by the open access fund of the University of Duisburg-Essen administered by the University Library, by the University's Joint Center Urban Systems, and by the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Duisburg-Essen.

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http:// dnb.d-nb.de

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First published in 2023 by transcript Verlag, Bielefeld

© Jens Martin Gurr (ed.)

Cover layout: Kordula Röckenhaus, Bielefeld

Cover illustration: Overlay montage by Daniel Bläser

Printed by Majuskel Medienproduktion GmbH, Wetzlar

Print-ISBN 978-3-8376-6559-8

PDF-ISBN 978-3-8394-6559-2

https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839465592

ISSN of series: 2747-3619

eISSN of series: 2747-3635

Printed on permanent acid-free text paper.

BleedingThrough:‘TheMakingof’

NormanM.Klein,JensMartinGurr

Thereaderofcrimefictionisoftenawitnesslongafterthefact,afterthe trailhasgonecold.Butthepointistoreopenthecase,lookironicallyfor clues.Itisaself-consciousconceitnowadays,tosolvecrimes,whenmediafloodsuswithfakecluesdayandnight.Whereisthebottomtoany crime?Inthecaseof BleedingThrough,thereaderlivesintheyear1986 andmakesfriendswithanelderlyladypushingninety.Thelady’sname isMolly.Shecanoftenbeseenshamblingalong,alwaysatrifleoffbalance,upthehillystreetsofAngelinoHeights,arun-downolderneighborhoodinLosAngeles.ThewordoutonMollyisthatshemurderedher secondhusband.Andyet,shelooksthoroughlyunabletoevenraiseher voice.Finally,thenarratorasksMollywhathappenedtohersecondhusband.Sheadjustsherjumboeyeglasses,andanswerssimply:“Hisname wasWalt,verydifferentfrommyfirsthusband,whosportedwithother women.Walt,totellthetruth,eveninlife,neverleftmuchofanimpression.”

Intheoriginal2003version,theprintnovellaaswellasinteractive layersonaDVDdeliveredbackgroundaboutMolly,onwhatsecretsshe had;butasaporia,notenoughtobeginprosecutingherformurder.The readerchosefromoverathousandimages,voice-overs,videos,films, mapsthatbothrevealandcloakherstory.TheyrevealnotonlyMolly’s erasures,butalsothoseofLosAngeles.Mollylivesinthegeneraldowntownarea,wheremorenoirfilmswereshotthananywhereelseonearth. Andyet,shehatescrimemovies,prefersscrewballcomedies.

Instages,welearnofMolly’ssevenfinalthoughtsonearth.TierIof theinterfacecontoursherthoughtsintoanarchiveofphotos,filmsand

8NormanM.Klein’s BleedingThrough:LayersofLosAngeles

voiceovers.Thesumofthesefeelsalmostlikeanoveloramovie.InTier II,backstories,asresearch,tothispotentialFilmNoirarerevealed.By theThirdTier,wearetooloadeddownwithinformation,asifthereader nowknowstoomuchevenforacrimemovie.Thisinterface,designedby RosemaryComellaandAndreasKratky,wasreleasedin2002–2003,for theGermanmediamuseumZKM,incollaborationwiththeLabyrinth MedialabattheUniversityofSouthernCalifornia.Itwasbasedona “docufable”fromNormanKlein’s HistoryofForgetting (1997),includedas chapter5inthe“Makingof”sectionofthepresentbook.Indeed,America’ssenseofcrimehasgrownsomucholdersincethen.

Some20yearsafterthefirstedition,thisbookincludestheoriginal novella,criticalandhistoricalessayson BleedingThrough,itscontexts,its politics,andnotleastonchangingperceptionsofitsaestheticandmedialstrategiesovertime,aswellasshortfictionsthatwentintothemakingof BleedingThrough.Therearerevaluationsfromdifferentyears,upto 2021,andaninterviewwithNormanKlein.Thesumoftheserevealnot onlyMolly’sstory,butthechronicleofwhathappenedtodowntownLos Angelesfrom1920tothepresent.Thelayerscombinecomicpicaresque anddocumentarynoir(anditshiddensources)asthecomicembraceof thecityitself.

AsforthemultimediamaterialcontainedontheDVDinthe2003 edition,thiscannotsimplybetransferredtoawebsite,nowsurelytheexpectedoption.Moreimportantly,however,mediaevolutionsince2003 suggestsadifferentpathanyway:Whiletheinteractive,non-linearhypertextinterfacerequiringconstantuseractivitywashighlyinnovative then,andsuitedtheenthusiasmaboutsuchmediaatthetime,suchinteractivityhasbecomefarmorenormal(theaward-winninginterfaceas wellassomereservationsaboutsitsstochasticelementsarediscussedin Chapter3andintheinterviewinChapter9).Inshort,ratherthanseekingtoreplicatethe2003experienceofnavigatingtheDVD1,wepresent linkstotwodocumentaryfilmson BleedingThrough.Oneisadocumentarycombiningexcerptsfrom BleedingThrough andfootageofhowthe

1Readerswishingtoexperiencetheoriginalnavigationmaycontacttheeditorto arrangeforthesendingofaUSBdevicecontainingtheoriginaldigitalmaterial.

NormanM.Klein,JensMartinGurr:Introduction9

interfaceisnavigated2,theotheristhedocumentary HowtoMakethis intoaMovie–BleedingThrough:LayersofLosAngeles1920–1986 bytwofilm studentsfromtheUniversityofDuisburg-Essen,Lisa-MarieKrosseand JanNiederprüm3,whichincludesconversationswithNormanKleinand JensGurr.

Chapter1ofthisbookcontainsNormanKlein’soriginal37-page novella BleedingThrough, detailingMolly’sstoryandhighlightingthe connectionbetweenurbandevelopmentinLAthroughthe20th-century andHollywoodmurderfilms.Chapter2,“MontageandSuperposition: ThePoeticsandPoliticsofUrbanMemoryin BleedingThrough:Layersof LosAngeles,1920–1986”isalongessayon BleedingThrough byJensMartin Gurr,whileChapter3,“SpacesBetween:TravelingThroughBleeds, Apertures,andWormholesInsidetheDatabaseNovel”isanessayby Kleinfrom2007,whichhighlightshisevolvingviewsontheaffordances andlimitationsofdatabasenovelssuchas BleedingThrough. In“LosAngelessincetheEndofMolly’sStory:1986–2021”,whichformsChapter 4,NormanKleintracessome35yearsofurbantransformationinLos Angelestothepresentday,includingthoughtsonhowCOVID-19may affectthecityinthelongrun.

The‘Makingof’sectionofthebookopenswithtwoshortdocufables fromKlein’sstudy TheHistoryofForgetting:LosAngelesandtheErasureof Memory (1997)thatwerecentraltothegenesisof BleedingThrough:Chapter5,“TheUnreliableNarrator”,containsthekernelofMolly’sstoryas laterdetailedinthenovella“BleedingThrough”,whileChapter6,“Noir astheRuinsoftheLeft”isadocufableimaginingwhatwouldhave happenedhadWalterBenjaminsurvivedhisattemptedescapefrom theNazisandhadsettledinLosAngeles.Thoughnevermentionedin BleedingThrough,Benjamin’sviewsontheperceptionofcitiesarecentral to BleedingThrough anditsconceptionofurbanlayers.Chapter7,“The

2The44-minutefilmistobefoundhere:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d MX5xuuyIDQ.

3The21-minutefilm HowtoMakethisintoaMovie–BleedingThrough:LayersofLos Angeles1920–1986 istobefoundhere:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt5 lVDBln5k.

10NormanM.Klein’s BleedingThrough:LayersofLosAngeles

Morgue:FiftyWaystoMurderaMan”isbriefessayonacompilation ofgraphicnewspaperreportsonmurdersinLosAngelesthatserved asabackdroptoMolly’sstory,whileChapter8,“Absences,Scripted SpacesandtheUrbanImaginary:UnlikelyModelsfortheCityinthe Twenty-FirstCentury”isanessaywrittenin2002intheearlyphaseof workingon BleedingThrough.Withitsdiscussionofurbanpolaritiesin LosAngelesandhowtheyarebothhighlighted and glossedoverinHollywoodfilms,butalsowithadiscussionofAmericanpoliticsafter9/11,it provideskeycontextsfor BleedingThrough andpointsforwardtoKlein’s moreexplicitengagementwithUSpoliticsinhislaterwork.Chapter9, alonginterviewwithNormanKleinconductedforthisvolumeinMay 2022,focusesonthegenesisof BleedingThrough andonthecentralityof WalterBenjamintoitsaestheticsanditspoliticsofurbanperception andrepresentation.Itthusseekstotietogetherthekeystrandsofthis book.

Wehavedecidednottomodify,adaptorupdatetheessaystoexpress onlypresent-dayviews;rather,apartfromaharmonizationofthereferencesystemandthecorrectionofobviouserrors,theyhavedeliberately remainedunchanged:Writtenoveraperiodof20years,theytracemedia evolutionsandchangingviewsonthestrengthsandlimitationsofmultimediadatabasenovels,includingthoughtsonhowlessonslearnedfrom BleedingThrough cametoshapeKlein’ssecondmedianovel, TheImaginary 20thCentury (2016).

Thisbookhaslongbeeninthemaking.InthewordsofSterne’snarratorTristramShandy(asharedobsession),wehopethereaderwillenjoytheroundaboutevolutionofa“slightacquaintance”,begunin2009 withaninvitationtopresent BleedingThrough ataconference(forsome reason,thisdidnotworkout),which–overmorethantenyearsofintermittentthoughincreasinglysustainedconversationmeanderingaround BleedingThrough –has“grow[n]intofamiliarity”and,incontrasttoTristram’srelationswithhisreaders,has“terminate[d]infriendship”.Ifthis resultofourdialogueisonlyhalfasrewardingtoreadersasthedialogue itselfhasbeentous,wewillbemostpleased.