Prioritizing Narrative Structure in Large-Scale Film-Music Analysis: A Case Study of Dramatic Irony in Barton Fink

Abstract

In this article, I introduce and outline a graphic technique for large-scale film-music analysis that utilizes the film’s narrative structure as a scaffold on which to conduct musical inquiry. This technique combines Seymour Chatman’s narrative theory with Gustav Freytag’s theory of dramatic structure into a temporal map called a Narrative/Dramatic Structure diagram (NDS diagram) upon which a film’s complete score can be viewed and explored. I analyze Carter Burwell’s complete score to the Coen brothers film Barton Fink (1991) as a case study and demonstrate its usage of large-scale dramatic irony that provides focus in an otherwise perplexing narrative.