Difference between revisions of "JCM312/French Modernism: Jean-Luc Godard & Bertolt Brecht (Discussion)"
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+ | ==The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre== | ||
+ | #'''All Groups:''' What does Brecht mean by the term "culinary opera"? | ||
+ | #*He suggests that "dramatic theater" is culinary. Some film critics suggest that Hollywood classicism is also culinary. Do you agree? Explain. | ||
+ | #'''All Groups:''' Consider the key aspects of "epic theater" that are boldfaced below. Do you think ''Breathless'' fits any of these aspects? Why or why not? | ||
+ | |||
+ | Brechtian alienation | ||
+ | *"Alienation effect"--''Verfremdungseffekt'' | ||
+ | |||
<table border="border" width="100%" > | <table border="border" width="100%" > | ||
<tr valign="top"> | <tr valign="top"> | ||
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<tr valign="top"> | <tr valign="top"> | ||
<td>implicates the spectator in a stage situation</td> | <td>implicates the spectator in a stage situation</td> | ||
− | <td>turns the spectator into an observer, but</td> | + | <td>'''turns the spectator into an observer, but'''</td> |
</tr> | </tr> | ||
<tr valign="top"> | <tr valign="top"> | ||
<td>wears down his capacity for action</td> | <td>wears down his capacity for action</td> | ||
− | + | <td>'''arouses his capacity for action'''</td> | |
− | <td>arouses his capacity for action</td> | ||
</tr> | </tr> | ||
<tr valign="top"> | <tr valign="top"> | ||
Line 23: | Line 30: | ||
</tr> | </tr> | ||
<tr valign="top"> | <tr valign="top"> | ||
− | |||
<td>experience</td> | <td>experience</td> | ||
<td>picture of the world</td> | <td>picture of the world</td> | ||
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<tr valign="top"> | <tr valign="top"> | ||
<td>instinctive feelings are preserved</td> | <td>instinctive feelings are preserved</td> | ||
− | <td>brought to the point of recognition</td> | + | <td>'''[instinctive feelings are] brought to the point of recognition'''</td> |
− | |||
</tr> | </tr> | ||
<tr valign="top"> | <tr valign="top"> | ||
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<tr valign="top"> | <tr valign="top"> | ||
<td>the human being is taken for granted</td> | <td>the human being is taken for granted</td> | ||
− | |||
<td>the human being is the object of the inquiry </td> | <td>the human being is the object of the inquiry </td> | ||
</tr> | </tr> | ||
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</tr> | </tr> | ||
<tr valign="top"> | <tr valign="top"> | ||
− | |||
<td>eyes on the finish</td> | <td>eyes on the finish</td> | ||
<td>eyes on the course</td> | <td>eyes on the course</td> | ||
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<td>each scene for itself</td> | <td>each scene for itself</td> | ||
</tr> | </tr> | ||
− | |||
<tr valign="top"> | <tr valign="top"> | ||
<td>growth</td> | <td>growth</td> | ||
Line 69: | Line 71: | ||
</tr> | </tr> | ||
<tr valign="top"> | <tr valign="top"> | ||
− | <td>linear development</td> | + | <td>linear development [of plot]</td> |
− | <td>in curves</td> | + | <td>'''in curves'''</td> |
− | |||
</tr> | </tr> | ||
<tr valign="top"> | <tr valign="top"> | ||
Line 79: | Line 80: | ||
<tr valign="top"> | <tr valign="top"> | ||
<td>man as fixed point</td> | <td>man as fixed point</td> | ||
− | |||
<td>man as a process</td> | <td>man as a process</td> | ||
</tr> | </tr> | ||
Line 87: | Line 87: | ||
</tr> | </tr> | ||
<tr valign="top"> | <tr valign="top"> | ||
− | |||
<td>feeling</td> | <td>feeling</td> | ||
<td>reason</td> | <td>reason</td> | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
</tr> | </tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
− | |||
==Counter Cinema== | ==Counter Cinema== | ||
− | #What is Wollen's "counter cinema"? What is it counter to? | + | #'''All Groups:''' What is Wollen's "counter cinema"? What is it counter to? |
#Apply the following aspects of counter cinema to ''Breathless''. Do they fit? | #Apply the following aspects of counter cinema to ''Breathless''. Do they fit? | ||
#*Cite specific scenes, shots, dialog, etc. that support your answer. | #*Cite specific scenes, shots, dialog, etc. that support your answer. | ||
− | #*#''' | + | #*#'''Groups 2 and 5:''' In your own words, explain the "narrative intransitivity" aspect of counter cinema. |
#*#'''Group 3:''' In your own words, explain the "estrangement" aspect of counter cinema. | #*#'''Group 3:''' In your own words, explain the "estrangement" aspect of counter cinema. | ||
#*#'''Group 4:''' In your own words, explain the "foregrounding" aspect of counter cinema. | #*#'''Group 4:''' In your own words, explain the "foregrounding" aspect of counter cinema. | ||
#*#'''Group 1:''' In your own words, explain the "aperture" aspect of countercinema. | #*#'''Group 1:''' In your own words, explain the "aperture" aspect of countercinema. | ||
− | #*'''Groups 1 | + | #*'''Groups 1, 2, & 4:''' Make the case for ''Breathless'' as a classical film. |
− | #*'''Groups 3 | + | #*'''Groups 3 & 5:''' Make the case for ''Breathless'' as a counter-cinema and/or Brechtian film. |
#What aspects of Wollen's list match Brecht's list? | #What aspects of Wollen's list match Brecht's list? | ||
− | + | <table border="1"> | |
− | + | <tr> | |
+ | <td>"DEADLY SINS" OF THE CLASSICAL CINEMA</td> | ||
+ | <td>"CARDINAL VIRTUES" OF COUNTER CINEMA</td> | ||
+ | </tr> | ||
+ | <tr> | ||
+ | <td>Narrative transitivity</td> | ||
+ | <td>Narrative intransitivity</td> | ||
+ | </tr> | ||
+ | <tr> | ||
+ | <td>Identification</td> | ||
+ | <td>Estrangement</td> | ||
+ | </tr> | ||
+ | <tr> | ||
+ | <td>Transparency</td> | ||
+ | <td>Foregrounding</td> | ||
+ | </tr> | ||
+ | <tr> | ||
+ | <td>Single diegesis</td> | ||
+ | <td>Multiple diegesis</td> | ||
+ | </tr> | ||
+ | <tr> | ||
+ | <td>Closure</td> | ||
+ | <td>Aperture</td> | ||
+ | </tr> | ||
+ | <tr> | ||
+ | <td>Pleasure</td> | ||
+ | <td>Un-pleasure</td> | ||
+ | </tr> | ||
+ | <tr> | ||
+ | <td>Fiction</td> | ||
+ | <td>Reality</td> | ||
+ | </tr> | ||
+ | </table> | ||
==Bibliography== | ==Bibliography== | ||
Line 117: | Line 144: | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
− | * | + | *[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T577/Godard_Criticism_Brecht.php Godard illustrations] |
+ | *[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T340/Breathless/index.htm ''Breathless'' illustrations] | ||
+ | *''Wind from the East'' online — [http://www.ubu.com/film/dziga_vertov.html UbuWeb], [http://www.tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/WindFromTheEast500x375.php TCF] | ||
+ | *[http://tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/HommageKit.php ''Hommage Kit'' (Butler, 1978)] | ||
− | [[Category: | + | [[Category:JCM312 Discussion]] |
Latest revision as of 14:35, 22 October 2019
The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre
- All Groups: What does Brecht mean by the term "culinary opera"?
- He suggests that "dramatic theater" is culinary. Some film critics suggest that Hollywood classicism is also culinary. Do you agree? Explain.
- All Groups: Consider the key aspects of "epic theater" that are boldfaced below. Do you think Breathless fits any of these aspects? Why or why not?
Brechtian alienation
- "Alienation effect"--Verfremdungseffekt
DRAMATIC THEATRE | EPIC THEATRE |
plot | narrative |
implicates the spectator in a stage situation | turns the spectator into an observer, but |
wears down his capacity for action | arouses his capacity for action |
provides him with sensations | forces him to take decisions |
experience | picture of the world |
the spectator is involved in something | he is made to face something |
suggestion | argument |
instinctive feelings are preserved | [instinctive feelings are] brought to the point of recognition |
the spectator is in the thick of it, shares the experience | the spectator stands outside, studies |
the human being is taken for granted | the human being is the object of the inquiry |
he is unalterable | he is alterable and able to alter |
eyes on the finish | eyes on the course |
one scene makes another | each scene for itself |
growth | montage |
linear development [of plot] | in curves |
evolutionary determinism | jumps |
man as fixed point | man as a process |
thought determines being | social being determines thought |
feeling | reason |
Counter Cinema
- All Groups: What is Wollen's "counter cinema"? What is it counter to?
- Apply the following aspects of counter cinema to Breathless. Do they fit?
- Cite specific scenes, shots, dialog, etc. that support your answer.
- Groups 2 and 5: In your own words, explain the "narrative intransitivity" aspect of counter cinema.
- Group 3: In your own words, explain the "estrangement" aspect of counter cinema.
- Group 4: In your own words, explain the "foregrounding" aspect of counter cinema.
- Group 1: In your own words, explain the "aperture" aspect of countercinema.
- Groups 1, 2, & 4: Make the case for Breathless as a classical film.
- Groups 3 & 5: Make the case for Breathless as a counter-cinema and/or Brechtian film.
- Cite specific scenes, shots, dialog, etc. that support your answer.
- What aspects of Wollen's list match Brecht's list?
"DEADLY SINS" OF THE CLASSICAL CINEMA | "CARDINAL VIRTUES" OF COUNTER CINEMA |
Narrative transitivity | Narrative intransitivity |
Identification | Estrangement |
Transparency | Foregrounding |
Single diegesis | Multiple diegesis |
Closure | Aperture |
Pleasure | Un-pleasure |
Fiction | Reality |
Bibliography
- Brecht, Bertolt. "The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre." In Brecht on Theatre, pp. 33-42. Edited and translated by John Willett. New York: Hill and Wang, 1964.
- MacCabe, Colin. Godard: Images, Sounds, Politics. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University, 1980.
- Wollen, Peter. "Godard and Counter Cinema: VENT D'EST." In Readings and Writings: Semiotic Counter-Strategies. London: Verso, 1982.
External links
- Godard illustrations
- Breathless illustrations
- Wind from the East online — UbuWeb, TCF
- Hommage Kit (Butler, 1978)