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UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA PORTUGUESA THE “DISCREET CHARM” OF SURREALISM IN EASTERN EUROPEAN ANIMATION: WHEN REPRESSION FOSTERS CREATIVITY Dissertação apresentada à Universidade Católica Portuguesa para obtenção do grau de mestre em Estudos de Cultura Por Ekaterina Smirnova Faculdade de Ciências Humanas Maio 2015 UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA PORTUGUESA THE “DISCREET CHARM” OF SURREALISM IN EASTERN EUROPEAN ANIMATION: WHEN REPRESSION FOSTERS CREATIVITY Dissertação apresentada à Universidade Católica Portuguesa para obtenção do grau de mestre em Estudos de Cultura Por Ekaterina Smirnova Faculdade de Ciências Humanas Sob orientação de Professora Doutora Isabel Capeloa Gil Maio 2015 2 ABSTRACT The focus of this dissertation is Surrealism in animation films created during the Soviet period of 1956 – 1989 in Russia, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. These thirty-three years of the Soviet regime were characterized by the domination of censorship, a persecution of "formalism" and control over artistic expression. However, in these dark conditions the animation industry flourished and striking political films appeared. These films told personal stories and intimate secrets in a way that was not immediately recognizable, sometimes thought of as madness or simply overlooked by the censorship for the simple reason, that animation was thought of as an art for children that could not pose any danger. This dissertation aims at recognizing political revolt and subversion in the animation industry through an analysis of the ambivalent conditions of the Soviet repression system that simultaneously curbed and led to a rise in creativity. This gives rise to the main question: “Did censorship, under these specific conditions, foster artistic creativity in animation films?” 3 RESUMO O foco deste trabalho é o surrealismo nos filmes de animação criados durante o período soviético de 1956 - 1989, na União Soviética, Polónia e Tchecoslováquia. Aqueles trinta e três anos do regime Soviético são caraterizados pelo domínio forte de censura, perseguição do assim chamado "formalismo" e pelo controlo da expressão artística. No entanto, nestas condições obscuras, a indústria de animação floresceu imenso o que resultou na criação de marcantes filmes políticos. Eles contaram histórias pessoais e segredos íntimos de uma forma que estes não eram imediatamente reconhecíveis pela censura, por vezes considerados como loucura ou simplesmente ignorados, pela simples razão, de que a animação foi pensada como uma arte para as crianças e que não poderia representar qualquer perigo. Este trabalho visa reconhecer a revolta política e subversão na indústria da animação e menciona uma análise das condições ambivalentes do sistema soviético de repressão que levou a um aumento da criatividade nesta categoria de arte, representando uma questão central: "será que a censura, nestas condições específicas, fomentou a criatividade artística nos filmes de animação?" 4 DEDICATION: To the enigmatic Portuguese puppet that inspired me to start this journey here in Lisbon and that initiated my Surrealist encounters “Um pedaço de Alma que sai por uma Cicatriz” (transl.: “A fraction of soul that crawls out of the scar”) Author: Helena Vaz, São Lourenço Puppet Company From the collection of the Marionette Museum of Lisbon 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Professor Isabel Capeloa Gil, and to Professor Alexandra Lopes who assisted and encouraged me in this project. I would also like to say a special thank you to Andreia and the team of Lisbon’s Museu da Marioneta (Marionette Museum of Lisbon) for accepting me to be part of their group during my internship and sharing their knowledge and experience. The time spent in the Museum inspired me and permitted to plunge deeper into the uncanny world of puppet theatre and animation. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................. 8 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 9 STATE OF THE ART.................................................................................................................. 16 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .......................................................................................................... 21 DESCRIPTION OF THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY IN EASTERN EUROPE ....... 23 1.1 JUSTIFICATION OF THE CHOSEN PERIOD AND ANALYSIS OF THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY: THAWS AND FROSTS IN THE “ETERNAL” WINTER OF THE SOVIET UNION. ........................................................................................................................................ 23 1.2 SOCIALIST REALISM MANIFESTING ITS AMBIVALENCE: SOCIALIST REALISM VS SURREALISM ...................................................................................................................... 30 1.3 CENSORSHIP AND CREATIVITY ..................................................................................... 34 SURREALISM IN ANIMATION: LANGUAGE OF SUBVERSION OR ESCAPISM? ...................................................................................................................... 36 2.1. THE DEFIANT CHARM OF THE UNDEFINED TERM OR THE ELUSIVENESS OF SURREALISM ............................................................................................................................ 36 2.2 SURREALISM, CINEMA AND ANIMATION ................................................................... 39 2.3 ANIMATION – SUBVERSION THROUGH EMANCIPATION? ...................................... 43 2.4 PUPPETS – OBJECTS OF ANXIETY.................................................................................. 46 CASE STUDY: FILM ANALYSIS .................................................................................. 52 3.1 NARRATIVE STRATEGIES ................................................................................................ 52 3.2 CZECHOSLOVAKIA: EXPLORING THE TOPICS OF ARTISTIC LIBERTY AND LACK OF COMMUNICATION ............................................................................................................. 55 3.2.2 JIŘÍ TRNKA .................................................................................................................... 56 3.2.3. JAN ŠVANKMAJER ....................................................................................................... 62 3.2.4 JIŘÍ BARTA ..................................................................................................................... 64 3.3. POLAND – DARK COLLAGES ......................................................................................... 66 3.3.1 JAN LENICA ................................................................................................................... 66 3.3.2 MIROSLAW KIJOWICZ .................................................................................................. 70 3.4 RUSSIA: THE DISCREET CHARM OF SURREALISM .................................................... 71 3.4.1 YURY NORSHTEYN ........................................................................................................ 72 3.4.2 ALEKSANDER TATARSKY ............................................................................................. 75 TOWARDS A CONCLUSION ........................................................................................ 78 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................................. 83 7 LIST OF FIGURES Images 1-2, The Hand (1965) – P.58 Images 3-5, The Hand (1965) – P.60 Images 6-7, The Hand (1965) – P.61 Image 8, Dimensions of dialogue (1983) – P.62 Image 9, The extinct world of gloves (1982) – P.64 Image 10, The club of the discarded ones (1989) – P.65 Image 11, Labyrinth (1961) – P.67 Image 12, Une semaine de bonté (1934) – P.67 Image 13, Cages (1966) – P.70 Image 14, Tale of tales (1979) – P.74 Image 15, Last year snow was falling (1983) – P.76 8 INTRODUCTION I have always liked to move in the periphery of Art, at the crossing of genres. I have enjoyed combining elements that were seemingly distant, if not entirely foreign, blurring the borders between adjacent areas, transplanting noble qualities to "lower" genres, in other words - quiet diversion.1 Jan Lenica, Polish animation film director. The quotation by Polish animation film director, Jan Lenica, is crucial for this work. It contains two important messages linked with my research theme: Surrealism and subversion in animation films of Eastern European artists of the second half of the twentieth century. I chose it because it showcases how a particular artist identified himself in a challenging period. “Quiet diversion” was a method chosen by many nonconformist artists who decided not to follow the dominant doctrine of “Socialist Realism” that was imposed by the Soviet regime in countries like Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Russia amongst others. When Lenica refers to “lower genres” he may be as well referring to the fact that animation was traditionally considered as a lower art for children. Also, that was one of the reasons why so many controversial animation films managed to surpass censorship, with the censors underestimating the value and potential of this artistic form as a subversive practice. Finally, this quotation suggests the Surrealist influence on the artist. Being on the periphery, combining distant elements – these are the characteristics common to Surrealism2 as to other currents