The representation of a body / artificial body in A. Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange and the film adaptation by S. Kubrick

Abstract

The article discusses representations of a hybrid body in the novel A Clockwork Orange and its film adaptation by S. Kubrick. Both works examine a hybrid body as a symptom of the post-human state. The article proves that in his film, Kubrick makes use of the novel’s imagery and, rather than creating a radically different work, is engaged in interpretation of the source. The eloquent orange metaphor, chosen by Burgess for the book’s title, directly points to the literary theme at the heart of the novel: youth as a restless and lawless time. In the novel, these ideas are supported with Shakespeare and Yeats quotations. That the writer should have turned to the theme of youth is explained as his response to the youth subculture of the late 1950s — early 1960s which was associated with asocial experience. The quotation from Yeats still enjoys prominence in Kubrick’s film, which, however, was made at a later date when youth culture had already received plenty of self-reflective feedback and definitions. This may partly explain the differences in the approach to the representation of a hybrid body in the book vs. the film. The article defines the central theme that prompts the choice of the representation method: an artist that embodies the power of youth and creativity