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Magic Realist Cinema in East Central Europe
Author(s): Aga Skrodzka (Author)
- Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
- Publication Date: 9 Oct. 2012
- Language: English
- Print length: 272 pages
- ISBN-10: 0748639160
- ISBN-13: 9780748639168
Book Description
Magic Realist Cinema is the first book-length critical analysis of magic realism in cinema. It moves the current debate over the style’s political impact from postcolonial and postmodern literature to the moving image. The book defines magic realism as it unfolds in cinema, specifically the cinema of East Central Europe. It also offers a comprehensive survey of a unique regional trend developed by East Central European filmmakers immersed in the tangled post-communist transitions that continue to transform the region. Magic Realist Cinema explores the interlocking complexities of two liminal concepts: magic realism and East Central Europe. Each is a fascinating hybrid that resonates importantly with dominant currents in contemporary thought on transnationalism, globalization, and regionalism. This book combines close textual analysis of carefully selected films by directors such as Jan vankmajer, Krzysztof Kielowski, György Pálfi, Jan Jakub Kolski, Wim Wenders, Ivo Trajkov, Ibolya Fekete, Dorota Kdzierzawska, Ildikó Eneyedi and Emir Kusturica with a disciplined investigation of the socio-economic and political context in order to both study and popularize an important and unique tradition in World Cinema. Magic realist cinema stands in opposition to the glossy images of historical dramas and heritage films. The directors’ artistic achievements illuminate the connections between a particular aesthetics and the social structure of East Central Europe at a precise moment of contemporary history.Features* Provides the first comprehensive analysis of magic realism in cinema* Offers an examination of the post-socialist cinema as representative of the hybridized space and consciousness of East Central Europe* A chronological overview of the existing theories of magic realism to the extent in which they apply to globalized visual cultures* A consideration of the cinema of East Central Europe in the context of transnationalism and postcoloniality*
Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
Traditions in World Cinema General Editors: Linda Badley and R. Barton Palmer Founding Editor: Steven Jay Schneider This series introduces diverse and fascinating movements in world cinema. Each volume concentrates on a set of films from a different national, regional or, in some cases, cross-cultural cinema which constitute a particular tradition. Endorsements to follow Magic Realist Cinema in East Central Europe explores the interlocking complexities of two liminal concepts: magic realism and East Central Europe. Each is a fascinating hybrid that resonates with dominant currents in contemporary thought on transnationalism, globalization, and regionalism. In this critical and comprehensive survey, Aga Skrodzka moves the current debate over magic realism’s political impact from literary studies to film studies. Her close textual analysis of films by directors such as Jan Svankmajer, Jan Jakub Kolski, Martin Sulík, Ivo Trajkov, Dorota Kędzierzawska, Ildikó Enyedi, Béla Tarr and Emir Kusturica is accompanied by an investigation of the socio-economic and political context in order to both study and popularize an important and unique tradition in world cinema. The directors’ artistic achievements illuminate the connections between a particular aesthetics and the social structure of East Central Europe at a precise moment of contemporary history. This fascinating introduction to a unique regional trend in cinema will be welcomed by undergraduate and postgraduate students in Film Studies, as well as scholars researching magic realism and world cinema. Aga Skrodzka is Assistant Professor in Film Studies at Clemson University
About the Author
Aga Skrodzka is an Assistant Professor in Film Studies at Clemson University
