„Most important of the arts”: cinema and the politics of memory in USSR and Russia 3700-KON26-CS
A review of the history of historical cinema in the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation in the context of history-based politics, including its links to official propaganda and historiography. The course outlines the circumstances in which individual films were made, the relation of the plot to official interpretations, and also the role of cinema in forming society's historical awareness. Separate consideration will be given to educational functions, including links to other artistic disciplines. Cases of conflict between the artistic vision and the official interpretation of history will also be shown. Analyses will encompass classic feature films and selected documentaries.
1. The dawn of the revolution: Battleship Potemkin, Storm over Asia
2. In search of a proletarian hero: Chapaev, Shchors, Kotovsky
3. Aleksandr Nevsky – an untimely masterpiece
4. The dispute over Ivan the Terrible – Eisenstein, Stalin and... historians
5. Great rebels: Ryazin and Pugachov
6. Settling accounts with “lordly Poland”: Bogdan Khmelnitsky and Taras Bulba
7. About the Time of Troubles: Minin and Pozharsky and 1612
8. The Wild East myth: The Thirteen and White Sun of the Desert
9. To the glory of special services: Operation Trust
10. The war gospel according to Yuri Ozerov: Liberation
11. Nostalgia for the old order: Agony (1981)
12. In search of a state cult: The Admiral
13. Relativization of Stalinism: Nikita Mikhalkov and his trilogy
14. The new returns: Fortress of War
15. Memento for an empire: Vizantiyskiy Urok (2008)
Note: the topics may be discussed in a different order, depending on the teaching needs and the interests of the participants.
Type of course
Learning outcomes
Participants will be able to trace – on the example of the Soviet Union and Russia – the process of building a state's official historical narrative with the help of cinema.
Important outcomes include the students' mastering of the main methods in studying issues from history and film studies. Upon completing the course students should be able to work on their own with film as a special kind of historical source, know how to use the basic auxiliary sciences of history for artistic sources and mechanical documentation.
Assessment criteria
Credits will be based on students' achievements during classes (being active, being prepared – erudite mastering of the material, invention, standard of presentation of a given topic) and a written paper on a selected issue from the range covered by the course.
Bibliography
M. Banaszkiewicz, Zapętlenie polityki historycznej – przypadek rosyjski, w: Państwo i Społeczeństwo, VIII, 2008, nr 2
Czernienko M. M. Bliska zagranica : szkice filmowe o Polakach i dla Polaków / pod redakcją Tadeusza Lubelskiego. — Warszawa 2007;
R. Jurieniew, Historia filmu radzieckiego, Warszawa 1977;
Peter Kenez, Cinema and Soviet Society: From the Revolution to the Death of Stalin (London 2001)
B. Mucha, Sztuka filmowa w Rosji 1896-1996, Piotrków Trybunalski 2002
Ł. Jasina, Wyzwolenie (1968-1975) Jurija Ozierowa jako prezentacja oficjalnej wersji historii II wojny światowej w kinematografii radzieckiej, Lublin 2007;
Propaganda historyczna Rosji w latach 2004–2009, Warszawa: BBN, 16 września 2009
R. Taylor, Film Propaganda: Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany (New York: I.B.Tauris, 1998).
J.Wojnicka, Awangarda i tradycja, czyli jak rosyjscy filmowcy stworzyli rewolucję [w:] „Didaskalia" 2008, nr 85-86;
J. Wojnicka, Dzieci XX Zjazdu. Film w kulturze sowieckiej lat 1956-1968, Kraków 2012
J. Wojnicka, Kino Rosji carskiej i Związku Sowieckiego, [w:] Historia kina, t.1, Kino nieme, red. - T. Lubelski, I. Sowińska, R. Syska, Kraków 2010
Зоркая Н. История советского кино. -СПб., 2005;
История отечественного кино / Отв. ред. Л. В. Будяк. М.2005
Черненко М. М.. Красная звезда, жёлтая звезда: Кинематографическая история еврейства в России, 1919—1999.М.2006.
Кино тоталитарной эпохи. Международный симпозиум в рамках XVI ММКФ//ИК. 1990. № 2
Szczegółowa bibliografia do poszczególnych tematów zostanie podana w trybie roboczym.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: