Balkans through cinematic representations Anthropology 219 Spring 2011 Mondays and Wednesdays 6:30-9:00 Professor Anastasia Karakasidou PNE 347 e-mail: [email protected] 781-283-3199 Office hours: Mondays and Thursdays 1:00-2:00 or by appointment

Course description The list of films that we will watch and the anthropological and historical readings we will do, aspire to cover various aspects of Balkan society as revealed through visual and cinematic representations. This is by no means a course strictly on Balkan film, but we will make honest efforts to locate ourselves within the cinema and ethnographic film literature. In the words of Dina Iordanova, Balkan film: “… is characterized by a specific poeticism, often linked to slow-paced narrative, long takes, elaborately choreographed scenes, understated colors, misty barren scenery, and haunting musical scores.” We will learn how to read films this way, but we will also use our anthropological lens: Balkan film is politically, socially and historically engaged, and we will use film narratives to understand the area’s diverse landscapes and cultures, religions and identities, love and hatred. Though many different peoples inhabit the area, this course, in the interests of coherence, concentrates on some more than others. It deals especially with , Macedonia, , , , Croatia and Bosnia. Also in a truly anthropological fashion, films are not strictly assigned in national order, since we will watch these films across borders and discuss them within the wider Balkan context.

In the course of Europe’s road to modernity, the southeastern corner of the continent became known as the Balkans. The western imagination rendered the peoples and the rich cultures of the area as backward, violent and underdeveloped. This course will examine the imagery of the area and its people in films. We will be able to explore the use of history by filmmakers and the use of movies in understanding a number of issues in the history of the Balkans. We will focus on heroes as significant actors in history and on how depictions of the past serve to discuss current problems.

The course will trace the adoration of ancient Greek antiquity, the legacy of Byzantium and Orthodox Christianity, as well as the Ottoman influence and the appearance of Islam. The Ottoman Empire left a heavy footprint in the area, and we will view and discuss its legacy in the shared Balkan traditions. Folk legends are regularly narrated in Balkan films, and we will trace their commonality and difference along lines of gender, ethnicity and religion. The historical past is (re)constructed and (re)presented in film, as are also the national awakenings and liberation movements of the 19th century. Eventually, the peoples of this region saw the territories of their nation take their modern form after World War I, and national cultures slowly emerged within the context of authoritarian political regimes of both the right and the left. After witnessing the monumental nightmare of WWII and the Holocaust, Soviet-dominated regimes and socialist experiments occurred in most Balkan countries, and this is another historical trend that will be critically evaluated through realist films of the era. Within these polities, we will examine popular themes, such as the crude imperative to retain female domination within the spirit of modern women’s emancipation; the clash between tradition and modernity; the opposition between country and city and the process of urbanization. Out migration to Western Europe and beyond will also be tackled.

At the closing of the 20th century, and after the overthrow of communism, the Balkans were in flames again, and considerable time will be spent in this course discussing the film and media representations of the recent unprecedented violence, massacres, and ethnic cleansing. While the new millennium strides along, all peoples of the Balkans suffer from a common anxiety: each nation feels surrounded by enemies, worries about national survival and builds a sense of belonging based on this collective paranoia. In this fashion, histories and memories are nationally hegemonic and hidden histories will also problematize us in this course. They bring up issues that would rather remain unspoken of, or present controversial versions of history. We will endeavor throughout the course to explore cinematic texts that tackle issues of the conflicting memories of key moments in Balkan history.

Many cinema lovers outside the US decry the global Hollywood hegemony and work to protect their national cinema industries. Conventional wisdom, however, suggests that audiences almost everywhere prefer American movies. Although we recognize this cultural imperialism, we will watch films made in the west, along with the national and indigenous self-representations of filmmakers from the Balkans. Whether movies are a form of art or entertainment, even when in documentary fashion, they always communicate images, which are part of a historical context. Hopefully, this course will open up ways for connecting film, history and anthropology as forms of cultural narrative and story telling, as forms of constructing virtual realities, and as attempts to represent authenticity.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, students should be able to: understand the diversity of the cinema in the Balkans; gain knowledge on some of the key socio-political issues in the Balkans through their cinematic representations; understand to what extent the cinema is a good tool for understanding the socio-political context of the Balkans; and, understand Balkan cinema as politically and culturally engaged cinema.

Course Requirements Your final grade will be calculated as follows: Class participation 25% Mid-term examination 25% Final research paper 30% Final oral exam 20%

Readings: The following books have been ordered at the Wellesley College Bookstore, and additional readings will be posted on the class’s site in sakai.

Bringa, Tone Being Bosnian the Muslim way: Identity and community in a central Bosnian village, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995. Creed, Gerald Domesticating Revolution: From socialist reform to ambivalent transition in a Bulgarian village, University Park, Penn: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998. Deliso, Christopher Culture and Customs of Serbia and , Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2009. Inalcik, Halil The Ottoman Empire: The classical age 1300-1600, London: Phoenix Press, 1973. Iordanova, Dina Cinema of Flames: Balkan Film. Culture and the Media, London: British Film Institute, 2001

Kaplan, Robert Balkan Ghosts: A journey through history, New York: St. Martin’s, 1993 Mazower, Mark The Balkans: A short history. New York: The Modern Library, 2000. Pamuk, Orhan Istanbul: memories of the City New York: Vintage, 2004 Seremetakis, Nadia The Last word: Women, death, and divination in Inner Mani, University of Chicago Press, 1991.

Course outline

Wednesday, January 26 Introducing the Balkans Film: Whose is this song, Bulgaria, Adela Peeva, director, 2005

Monday, January 31 Enticing the West: Balkan landscapes and peoples advertised Read: Deliso, Christopher, 2009 Cultures and Customs of Serbia and Montenegro pp.1-44 Film: Croatia, 1997,directors Jakov and Dominik Sedlar, narrated by Martin Sheen, 45 minutes, documentary (Clapp Video DR1517 .C76 1997) The potters of Thrapsano, 1999, director Philip Bentacourt, 27 Minutes, documentary (Clapp Video, NK4695.S76 P67 1999) Wednesday, February 2 The adoration of antiquity: Greece as the cradle of western ‘civilization’ Read: Freud, Sigmund “A disturbance of memory on the Akropolis” (in Sakai) Herzfeld, Michael 1987 Anthropology through the looking Glass, pp. 1-48 (in Sakai) Film: Ifigenia, 1977, director Mihalis Kakogiannis, 127 minutes (netflix instant play) Recommended Films: Trojan Women, 1971, director Mihalis Kakogiannis, 105 minutes (netflix instant play) Troy: Results of the 1993 and 1994 excavations, 1995, University of Cincinnati, 47 minutes, documentary (Clapp Video DF221.T8 T76 1995) Greece: Secrets of the Past, 2006, with Nia Vardalos, 45 minutes, documentary (netflix instant play)

Monday, February 7 Alexander the Great: How great was he? Read: Loring Danforth “Alexander the Great and the Macedonian Conflict” (in Sakai) Film: Alexander the Great, 1956, Hollywood, director Robert Rossen, with Richard Burton, 136 minutes (netflix instant play) Recommended Films: Landscape in the mist. 1988 Greece, director Theodoros Angelopoulos, 126 minutes (Clapp Video PN1997 T62864 2005) Macedonia: The land of a God, 2004, director Zinon Ramos, 210 minutes, documentary (netflix)

Wednesday, February 9 From Pagans to Christians: Byzantium and the legacy of Christian Orthodoxy Read: Mazower, Mark, 2000 The Balkans: A short history pp.1-35 Film: Byzantium: the lost empire, 1997, two discs, documentary (netflix) Recommended films: St Paul in Greece, 2000, A faith and spirituality documentary, 41 minutes (netflix) Frontline: The first Christians, 1998, 240 minutes, documentary (netflix)

Monday, February 14 Ottoman conquest and introducing Islam in the Balkans Read: Mazower, Mark, 2000 The Balkans: A short history pp.37-76 Inalcik, Halil, 1973 The Ottoman Empire pp. 1-54 Film: Harem, 1999, , director Ferzan Ozpetek, 105 minutes (netflix) Recommended films Islam: Empire of Faith, PBS, 160 minutes, documentary (netflix) Sufi soul: the mystical music of Islam, 2008, England, director Simon Broughton, 49 minutes, documentary (Clapp Video G5680 S84 2008)

Wednesday, February 16 For independence and freedom: National awakenings and liberation movements Read: Mazower, Mark, 2000 The Balkans: A short history pp.77-112 Film: Ataturk: founder of Modern Turkey, 1999, directors Zelfan and Tarquin Olivier, 52 minutes, documentary (Clapp video DR592.K4 A857 1999

Monday, February 21 No class, President’s Day

Wednesday, February 23 Building the nation, creating popular culture: Romance and national characters Read; Mazower, Mark, 2000 The Balkans: A short history pp.113-144 Film: Never on Sunday, 1960, Greece, director Jules Dassin, 93 minutes (netflix) Recommended Films: Rebetiko, 1983, Greece, director Kostas Ferris, 110 minutes (netflix) Zorba the Greek, 1964, director Mihalis Kakogiannis, 142 minutes (netflix)

Monday, February 28 Hidden histories and memories: Master nationalist and local ethnic narratives Ethnicity Read: Anastasia Karakasidou, 1997, Fields of wheat, Hills of Blood, pp. 108-137. Film: Underground, 1995, France/Hungary/Yugoslavia, director Emir Kusturica, 167 minutes (netflix) Recommended films: 12:08 East of Bucharest, 2006, , director Corneliu Porumboiu, 89 minutes (netflix instant play) Armenia: genocide denied, 2002, films for the Humanities and Sciences, 34 minutes, documentary (Clapp Video DR195.5 .A735 2003)

Wednesday, March 2 Hidden histories and memories: Women and romance Read: Layoun, Mary, 2001. “National homogeneity and population exchanges.” IN Wedded to the Land pp. 20-67. Film: Waiting for the clouds, 2004, Turkey, director Yesim Ustaoglou, 87 minutes (Clapp video PN1997.2 .B84874 2006) Recommended films: Trilogia: To Livadi pou dakryzei (Weeping meadow), 2004, Greece/France, Theodoros Angelopoulos, 162 minutes (Claa Video PN 1997.2 .T74461 2005, and netflix instant play)) Monday, March 7 Patriarchy rules: women, honor and shame Read: Seremetakis, Nadia, 1991 The Last word pp.1-46 Film: Bliss, 2007, Turkey, director Abdullah Oguz, 106 minutes (netflix) Recommended films: Sjecas li se, Dolly Bell?/Do Your Remember Dolly Bell? (1981) Yugoslavia, director emir Kusturica (Viano collection) Ljubavni slucaj ili tragedija sluzbenice P.T.T./Love Affair or the Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator, 1967, Yugoslavia, director Dusan Makavejev, ) (Viano collection)

Wednesday, March 9 Modernity, tradition and the transformation of the countryside Read: Loring Danforth 1989 Firewalking and religious healing, pp. 1-49. Film: Earth and Water 2000, Greece, director Panos Karkanevatos, 112 minutes (netflix instant play)

Monday, March 14 mid-term examination

Wednesday, March 16 No class Monday, March 21, No class, spring break Wednesday, March 23 No class, spring break

Monday, March 28 Migrating populations: reaching the western lands of oportunity Read: Jane Cowan, 2008 “Fixing national subjects in the 1920s southern Balkans” American Anthropologist, 35(2): 338-356 (in sakai) Film: America, America, 1963, Hollywood, director Elia Kazan, 174 minutes (netflix)

Wednesday, March 30 Migrating populations: reaching the city Read: Pamuk, Orhan, 2004, Istanbul, pp. 3-33, 47-61, 176-187, 245-253, 188-198 Film: Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul 2005, Germant/Turkey,director Fatih Akin, 90 minutes (Viano collection)

Recommended Films:

Uzak, 2002, Turkey, director Nuri Bilge Veylan, 105 minutes (Clapp Video PN1997.2 .U92423 2005)

The urban explosion, 1999, PBS, director Hal Weiner, 57 minutes, documentary (Clapp Video HT241 .U72 1999)

Monday, April 4 Socialist assimilation, authoritarianism and co-existence in Yugoslavia Read: Creed, Gerald, 1998 Domesticating Revolution, pp. 1-31, 121-148 Film: Zift, 2008, Bulgaria, director Javor Gardev, 94 minutes. Recommended Films: Bal na vodi/Hey Babu Riba, 1986, Serbia, director Jovan Acin, 109 minutes (Clapp Video PN1997 B34 2005 and netflix instant play)

Wednesday, April 6 Socialism and ethno-religious co-existence Read: Tone Bringa, 1995 Being Muslim the Bosnian Way pp.3- Film: Otac na sluzhbenom putu/When Father Was Away on Business, 1985, Yugoslavia, director Emir Kusturica, 135 minutes (netflix)

Monday, April 11 The nomads of the Balkans: Gypsies or Roma Read: Charles and Angeliki Keil, 2002 Bright Balkan Morning pp 87-147. Dina Iordanova, Cinema of Flames, pp.213-234 Film: Crna macka, beli macor/ Black Cat, White Cat, 1998, Serbia/France, director Emir Kusturica, 56 minutes (Clapp Video DR2053.M55 B74 2002) Recommended films: Dom za vesanje/ Time of the Gypsies , 1989 Yugoslavia, director Emir Kusturica, 135 minutes (Clapp Video PN1997 .C74795 2004)

Wednesday, April 13 The simmering Balkans: the collapse of socialism and ethnic conflict Read: Iordanova, Dina, 2001, Cinema of Flames, pp. 1-54 Film: Before the Rain, 1994, Macedonia/UK., director Milcho Manchevski, 113 minutes (Clapp Video PN1997 .P732 2008)

Monday April 18, No class, Patriot’s Day

Tuesday, April 19 Monday schedule The Balkans in flames: violence and ethnic cleansing Read: Iordanova, Dina, 2001, Cinema of Flames, pp. 89-135 Film: No Man’s Land, 2001,Bosnia/Herzegovina/Slovenia/Italy/France/UK/ , director Danis Tanovic, 97 minutes Recommended films: Yugoslavia: death of a nation, 1995-1996, Discovery Channel, director Angus Macqueen, 300 minutes, documentary (Clapp Video, DR1313 .Y83 1995) Prelude to : War and Peace in Bosnia and Croatia, 1999, director John J. Michalczyk, documentary. Miss Sarajevo, 1995, director Bill Carter, documentary Wednesday, April 20 Post-war Balkans and reconciliation: Building the new nations Read: Robert Hayden, 2008. “Genocide denial” Laws as secular heresy: A critical analysis with reference to Bosnia, Slavic Review 67(2): 384-407 (JSTOR) Film: Grbavica: The land of my dreams, 2006, Bosnia and Herzegovina, director Jasmila Zbanic, 90 minutes (netflix) Recommended films: Bringing down a dictator, 2002, Films for the Humanities and Sciences, director Steve York, 56 minutes, documentary (Clapp Video DR2053 .M55 B74 2002) Refugees as weapons of war, 1999, Howard university television, 30 minutes, documentary (Clapp Video DR2087 .R43 1999)

Monday, April 25 Changing Balkans and European integration: inhabiting the European space Read: Jenny B. White :Turks in the new ” American Anthropologist 99(4):754-769, 1 997 (JSTOR) Film: The edge of heaven, 2007, Turkey, director Fatih Akin, 116 minutes (Clapp Video PN1997.2 .A93 2008) Recommended films: The Trap (2007, Serbia, director Srdan Golubovic, 106 minutes (netflix instant play) Journey of hope, 1991, Miramax Films, 111 minutes (Clapp Video PN1997 .J6878 1991)

Wednesday, April 27 Transnational Balkans, borders and identity Read: Laurie Hart, 1999 “Culture, civilization and demarcation of the northwest borders of Greece.” American Ethnologist 26(1): 196-220 (JSTOR) Film: Politiki Kouzina/A touch of spice, 2003, Greece, director Tassos Boulmetis, 108 minutes (netflix) Recommended flims: Guests, 1998, Italy, director Matteo Garrone, 74 minutes (Clapp Video PN1997.O7669 2004) When mother comes home for Christmas, 1996. Greece, director Nilita Vachani, 109 minutes (Clapp Video HD8650.5 .O835 1996)

Monday, May 2 Balkanism in popular Western culture Read: Robert Kaplan, 1993 Balkan Ghosts, pp. 49-70, 233-259 Film: Behind enemy lines, 2001, Hollywood, director John Moore, 105 minutes (netflix) Recommended films: Midnight Express, 1978, Hollywood, director Alan Parker, 121 minutes (netflix) Gallipoli, 1981, Paramount Pictures, director peter Weir, 111 minutes (Clapp Video PN1997 G3142 1998)

Wednesday, May 4 Student presentations on their final research papers

Final papers due 4:00 pm. Monday, May 16