André Bazin and Aesthetic Bad Faith by Syed Feroz Hassan A
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Surviving Politics: André Bazin and Aesthetic Bad Faith by Syed Feroz Hassan A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Screen Arts and Cultures) in the University of Michigan 2017 Doctoral Committee: Professor Johannes von Moltke, Chair Emeritus Professor Richard Abel Professor Dudley Andrew Professor Daniel Herwitz Associate Professor Matthew Solomon [André] had a very precise and clever political mind, and for me his criticism was political, but within a framework so much broader than his Stalinist opponents that it included an aesthetic dimension which escaped them. - Chris Marker (quoted in Dudley Andrew, André Bazin) But can we be sure of being clear-headed with regards to “social” cinema when we are unjust with “non-committed” cinema? - André Bazin, “Cinéma et engagement,” Esprit (April 1957) Syed Feroz Hassan [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9990-4146 © Syed Feroz Hassan 2017 Dedication In memory of my parents, Shaher Bano Razvi and Syed Mohammed Abu Sayeed ii Acknowledgments I would not have been able to see this dissertation through if not for the support, advice, and encouragement of a long list of people. Johannes von Moltke has been a truly generous and patient advisor, pushing for clarity, and helping to contain the spiraling mode in which I tend pursue my research. I have been very privileged to learn from his own work on Siegfried Kracauer. It would be thoroughly far-fetched to think that I arrive anywhere close to the precision and lucidity of his own argumentation, but if this work has any coherence it is strictly the result of the critical interlocution he has offered over the years. Richard Abel’s pioneering work in excavating the rich archive of French film discourse before World War II was the first to give me the sense that there are important lessons to be learnt by studying the history of film theory and criticism. After all he has done to de-center the historical narrative of the pre-1960s French critical discourse away from Bazin, if he felt any disappointment in dealing with a project centered on Bazin, he never showed it. His generous support at every step of the way has been extremely crucial to retaining confidence in my work. Dudley Andrew first gave me the keys to his Bazin archive and to his office in the summer of 2012 that lay the grounds for this research. And he then agreed to spare time from his hectic schedule to be on the committee and to take time out for extensive feedback throughout. In too many ways, this work would be unthinkable without his own unsurpassable work on Bazin and then without all the support he has offered. It is his rare conversational generosity that encouraged me to ask more productive questions throughout. Matthew Solomon’s commitment to thinking film theory and film history together has meant that he encouraged me to think through my methodology more rigorously. It is his intervention that also led me to work out the iii place of historiography in Bazin’s own thinking. Without his critical eye, certain crucial dimensions of my argument would have remained severely undeveloped. Daniel Herwitz has consistently responded in a way that assured me there is something of broader significance to be recovered by revisiting the work Bazin. His own ability to combine theoretical concerns with an intense engagement with specific works has provided much needed illustration that hermeneutics, very far from being a hermetic practice, is among the most critically enlivening modes of inquiry. Angela Dalle Vacche, ever since I met her by chance in the archives at New Haven and Paris, has been a de facto member of the dissertation committee. She has been a constant source of invaluable feedback and conversation. I greatly look forward to her own re- reading of Bazin. For a long stretch of time, the critical work of Eric Rohmer was going to be a major part of this project. Even though I decided to keep it aside for the moment, the time I spent researching and writing about Rohmer’s work has been indispensable to the way my argument has turned out. Here I am grateful to Antoine de Baecque, Noël Herpe, and Pascal Bonitzer for insightful conversations that have allowed me to approach the complexity of Rohmer’s work. I would also like to thank the L’Institut Memoires de l’Édition Contemporaine for access to Rohmer’s archives. Mélisande Leventopoulos not only provided invaluable insights into French Catholic film culture within which to place Bazin, but with exceptional generosity also shared her copies of material from Amédée Ayfre’s archive. Once again, even if I have not made explicit use of this material in the text, the argument would have been much weaker without my engagement with it. Giorgio Bertellini, Richard Abel, Sheila C. Murphy, Matthew Solomon, and Colin Gunckel as chairs of the graduate program, and Markus Nornes and Caryl Flinn as chairs of the iv department have always been available to graduate students and looked out for their needs, not least ensuring that we have the funding necessary to carry out our research. They and the rest of the faculty members have created a vibrant and collegial departmental ambience necessary for the sharing of intellectual inquiry. Giorgio has been available since the day I landed in Ann Arbor and has always shared valuable advice on graduate school experience. The enthusiasm that Markus brings to his engagement with films and other texts has provided necessary confirmation that intellectual discussion can and should have affective stakes. I have learnt a great deal talking to and teaching with Daniel Herbert and Mark Kligerman who both bring great commitment to the classroom and an openness to a range of film experiences. I know that librarians are generous people, but Phil Hallman’s readiness and promptness in acquiring any material that we may need goes beyond any professional requirement. The Donald Hall Collection makes film research and education at Michigan incredibly smooth and it wouldn’t be the resource it is without Phil’s curation and assistance. Carrie Moore, Mary Lou Chlipala, Marga Schuhwerk-Hampel, and Lisa Rohde have been of unfailing help in navigating the administrative requirements. I have been fortunate to be a part of a vibrant community of graduate students and friends. Dimitri Pavlounis, my cohort mate, is a model combination of academic commitment and good cheer, and has unfailingly indulged many a too-strongly-expressed opinion from me. The calm confidence with which Nathan Koob managed to navigate the hurdles of graduate school showed me that it could be done without too much anxiety. Courtney Ritter was always the source of lively conversation and her enthusiasm for work was infectious. She and Jeff were generous hosts in New York and New Haven, and I miss our conversations over lemonade. Katy Peplin’s commitment to animals in and outside her work is extraordinary, and so is her v professional and personal generosity. Her many carefully created newsletters added a valuable dimension to my graduate school education. When I despaired over working out an argument through disparate archival material, Ben Strassfeld showed what working with archival material really looks like. Yuki Nakayama has been a great friend, colleague, and neighbor. Her responsiveness to a wide range of films has enlivened many a conversation. I have benefited greatly from conversations with Roberto Vezzani on Italian cinema as well as from his generosity in translating some material of relevance from Italian. Josh Morrison, Kayti Lausch, Joseph Deleon, Richard Mwakasege-Minaya, Kaelie Thompson, Vincent Longo, and Marissa Spada have all greatly enriched the community of Screen Arts and Cultures. As pioneers of the program, Kristy Rawson, Michael Arnold, Nancy McVittie, Peter Alilunas, and Erin Hanna set high standards for those who follow. The questions I ask in my work would not be the same if not for the resolutely non- hermetic education I received from my teachers at The English and Foreign Languages University in Hyderabad. But the satisfaction of having completed this project was immediately marred by news of Javeed Alam’s death. Alam provided his students the best kind of philosophical education that anyone can ask for. He went out of his way to continue lessons at his home even after retirement, and he invested our engagement with philosophy with an immediacy that made us all feel the personal and collective stakes of modernity, teaching us to critique it but also reminding us that any worthwhile critique can only be made from within modernity. Above all, he combined this intense engagement with a rare personal warmth. I will greatly miss not being able to resume our conversations. Madhava Prasad’s comments on my M.Phil thesis on Robert Bresson lay the ground for this project. The rigors of his own scholarship is exemplary of the possibilities of combining vi theoretical and historical inquiries in the investigation of cultural politics, and I have much to learn from it. Alok Bhalla encouraged and consolidated in me a predilection for engagement with a diverse range of texts of all kinds. His willingness to go out of his way to engage in passionate and lucid conversations about them is a quality all too rarely encountered. Rajeev Krishnan is the first person from whom most students at EFLU learn about the rigors of academic writing, and he is responsible for encouraging me to continue my graduate education. My understanding of modernism would be severely impoverished without the education he has offered. I wouldn’t have been able to come to the US to continue my graduate studies without the support of my brother Akheel and Afshan baji.