Trauma and Identity in Post-Yugoslav Cinemas
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
NEGOTIATING TROPES OF MADNESS: TRAUMA AND IDENTITY IN POST-YUGOSLAV CINEMAS A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2013 DEJAN LEVI SCHOOL OF ARTS, LANGUAGES AND CULTURES CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES 5 ABSTRACT 6 DECLARATION 7 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 8 THE AUTHOR 9 Chapter 1: Introducing tropes of madness: trauma and identity in post- Yugoslav cinemas 1.1. Introduction 10 1.2. Rationale for the ‘post-Yugoslav’ framework 18 1.3. Research contexts 24 1.4. On corpus selection 40 1.5. Structure of the thesis 44 Chapter 2: Theoretical framework 2.1. Introduction 47 2.2. Understanding the Yugoslav break-up and its consequences 47 2.3. Post-Yugoslav nation-building and film: a theoretical interface 51 2.4. Tropes of madness from a semantic/syntactic perspective 56 2.5. The trope of madness as rhetorical device 64 Section 1: Critical perspectives on Yugoslav and post-Yugoslav ideologies: the breakdown of the asylum Chapter 3: The inside-out asylum: Carnivalesque play and 'ideological demobilisation' in Burlesque Tragedy (Marković, 1995) and Marshall Tito’s Spirit (Brešan, 1999) 3.1. Introduction 67 3.2. What characterises the asylum-based trope of madness? 71 2 3.3. Madness and the semantic disarming of the politicised symbol 78 3.4. The ‘carnivalesque’ component of the inside-out asylum trope 97 3.5. Conclusions 100 Chapter 4: The inside-out asylum and the road movie in Kukumi (Qosja, 2006): where madness meets the nation-building discourse 4.1. Introduction 102 4.2. The long and winding road (of post-Socialist transition) 105 4.3. Film culture in a UN protectorate 111 4.4. The road and the asylum: Thematising ‘Kosova 1999’ 115 4.5. Conclusions 132 Section 2: Affective perspectives on post-Yugoslav trauma: the fragmentation of diegetic unity Chapter 5: Madness and the conventional representation of trauma: Objective vs. subjective realities 5.1. Introduction 135 5.2. Trauma, madness and audio-visual narrative media 138 5.3. The ‘multiple realities’ trope of madness in post-Yugoslav cinemas 147 5.4. The trauma of loss and displacement: Loving Glances and Fuse 153 5.5. Traumas of post-Yugoslav transition: Mirage 160 5.6. Conclusions 163 Chapter 6: Madness and the avant-garde approach to trauma: The 1999 NATO bombardment in Land of Truth, Love and Freedom (Petrović, 2000) 6.1. Introduction 165 6.2. Milutin Petrović and Land of Truth, Love and Freedom 168 6.3. Conclusions 196 3 Chapter 7: Conclusion 7.1. Re-visiting the core research objectives 198 7.2. Re-visiting the thesis research questions 200 7.3. Contributions of the study 210 Bibliography 214 Filmography 222 (Final word count, excluding front matter and bibliography: 82,232) 4 LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 3.1. Violeta’s musical performances in Burlesque Tragedy (Marković, 1995) 82 Fig. 3.2. Serbian turbo-folk star Ceca and wartime paramilitary Arkan 83 Fig. 3.3. Kusturica’s wedding scenes: When Father was Away on Business (1985), Black Cat White Cat (1998), Underground (1995), and Promise me this, (2007) 84 Fig. 3.4. Basketball and fantasies of escape in Burlesque Tragedy (Marković, 1995) 86 Fig. 3.5. Vlade Divac and Dražen Petrović in Once Brothers (Tolajian, 2010) and the ‘flag confiscation’ incident 86 Fig. 4.1. The asylum is abandoned in Kukumi (Qosja, 2005) 118 Fig. 4.2. Nation-building lessons in Fuse (Žalica, 2003) 120 Fig. 4.3. Staging national identity in Fuse (Žalica, 2003) 120 Fig. 4.4. Ambitious rhetoric falling on deaf ears in Kukumi (Qosja, 2005) 121 Fig. 4.5. Kukum’s provocative response to exclusion in Kukumi (Qosja, 2005) 123 Fig. 4.6. Closing shots of Marshall Tito’s Spirit (Brešan, 2000) and Kukumi (Qosja, 2005) 127 Fig. 4.7. Hasan, Mara and Kukum ‘feel’ the landscape in Kukumi (Qosja, 2005) 131 Fig. 4.8. Hasan’s efforts to generate new spatial experiences in Kukumi (Qosja, 2005) 131 Fig. 6.1. Disruption of temporal singularity and linearity in Land of Truth, Love and Freedom (Petrović, 1999) 177 Fig. 6.2. Boris’s ultimate reveal in Land of Truth, Love and Freedom (Petrović, 1999) 182 Fig. 6.3. Aggressor vs. victim points of identification in Land of Truth, Love and Freedom (Petrović, 1999) 187 Fig. 6.4. Unsettling the stability of the spectator’s gaze in Land of Truth, Love and Freedom (Petrović, 1999) 187 Fig. 6.5. The construction of Djordje’s point-of-view in Land of Truth, Love and Freedom (Petrović, 1999) 189 5 ABSTRACT This thesis examines how madness has been used in post-Yugoslav cinemas to facilitate thinking about experiences of the break-up of the SFRY throughout the 1990s and 2000s, its consequences and implications for the future. The study conceptualises post- Yugoslav film cultures as public spheres in which artistic and industrial practices are often combined to create meaning around the core themes of trauma and identity in post- Yugoslav cultures. Working with seven feature-length titles from a range of post-Yugoslav successor states (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo) I illustrate how images of madness have been essential in the cultural processing of events of the 1990s. Whilst featuring individuals suffering mental instabilities and disturbances, and sometimes asylums or mental health institutions, I contend such films are not ultimately concerned – on a thematic level – with mental health, but instead focus on the use of such characters in a metaphoric capacity for engaging core themes of Yugoslav break-up, conflicts, and difficulties of subsequent transition. Using the semantic/syntactic approach to genre, I identify two common ways in which madness is used on a textual level to engage these core themes. The first of these, the ‘inside-out asylum trope of madness’, is concerned with the use of the asylum in films which assess critically the dominant political ideologies of the successor states in question at a time when political pluralism was not yet established by the transition process. Films discussed include Burlesque Tragedy (Marković, 1995), Marshall Tito’s Spirit (Brešan, 1999), and Kukumi (Qosja, 2005). The second trope is the ‘multiple realities trope of madness’ in which the presentation of diegetic reality on screen is adapted to reflect various conceptualisations of trauma and loss arising from Yugoslav break-up and transition. Here the films include Loving Glances (Karanović, 2003), Fuse (Žalica, 2003), Mirage (Ristovski, 2004) and Land of Truth, Love and Freedom (Petrović, 2000). Across the films selected, it is madness which ultimately provides a diverse pool of metaphors and images for an assessment of Yugoslavia’s traumatic demise and the ensuing process of picking through the debris of its ideology, cultural practices, values and ways of living for precisely what might be salvageable and what should be discarded. 6 DECLARATION No portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. COPYRIGHT STATEMENT 1. The author of this thesis owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and he has given The University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administrative purposes. 2. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. 3. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trade marks and other intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. 4. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available in the University IP Policy (see http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=487), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library, The University Library’s regulations (see http://www.manchester.ac.uk/library/aboutus/regulations) and in The University’s policy on Presentation of Theses. 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am hugely grateful to the numerous people who provided the support, encouragement and advice I needed to undertake and complete my postgraduate studies. First of all, a huge debt of gratitude is owed to my academic supervisors, Dr. Adelina Angusheva-Tihanov, Prof. Stephen Hutchings and Prof. Christopher Perriam for their patience and assistance with everything from preparing the first proposal to finalising the finished thesis and, perhaps most importantly, for fostering an enjoyable and encouraging atmosphere in which to undertake postgraduate study. I would also like to acknowledge all of the other staff within the Russian and Eastern European Studies department who kindly found time to assist with whatever queries I had, Dr. Ewa Ochman and Dr. Rachel Platonov especially. Amongst the other postgraduate students in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures I have made many close friends that I hope will remain in my life long after the completion of the thesis. Research can sometimes be a lonesome activity so, for me, the company of like-minded fellow students has been not only essential to the completion of the work but also one of the rewards of the whole experience.