Wes Andersons Symbolic Storyworld

Wes Andersons Symbolic Storyworld presents a theoretical investigation of whatmakes the films of Wes Anderson distinctive. Chapter by chapter, it relentlessly pulls apart each of Andersons narratives to pursue the proposition that they all share the same deep underlying symbolic values a common symbolic storyworld. Taking the polemical strategy of outlining and employing Claude Lvi-Strausss distinguished (and notorious) work on myth and kinship to analyze eight of Andersons films, Warren Buckland unearths the peculiar symbolic structure of each film, plus the circuits of exchange, tangible and intangible gift giving, and unusual kinship systems that govern the lives of Andersons characters. He also provides an analysis of Wes Andersons visual and aural style, identifying several distinctive traits of Andersons mise en scne.