Dr Jytte Holmqvist
Lund University, Centre for Language and Literature, Department Member
- University of Central Lancashire, HBU/UCLan School of Media, Communication & Creative Industries, Faculty MemberMonash University, Short courses department, Faculty MemberUniversity of Melbourne, School of languages and linguistics, Department Memberadd
- Film Studies, World Cinema, Cultural Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Contemporary Spanish Literature and Film, Italian Cinema, and 13 morePopular Italian Cinema, Filmmakers, Women filmmakers, The films of Pedro Almodovar, Pedro Almodóvar, Ventura Pons, Postmodernity, Gender Studies, Performativity, Actors and actresses, Zygmunt Bauman, Scholarly Articles 1984 George Orwell, and Psychologyedit
- An academic scholar and researcher with a passion for cinema, culture and the artsedit
ÖVERSÄTTARE. Jytte Holmqvist har träffat den framstående översättaren Christine Bredenkamp för ett samtal om karriär och ordkonst, ordval, jargong, puristisk finess och fingertoppskänsla.
Research Interests:
Christof Wehmeier is Head of International and Festival Promotions at the Icelandic Film Centre and a special festival guest attending the Melbourne and Sydney opening nights of the Saxo Scandinavian Film Festival 2024.
Research Interests:
Interview with Sami Norwegian filmmaker Sara Margrethe Oskal, in conjunction with the Saxo Scandinavian Film Festival, Melbourne 2024.
Research Interests:
Interview with Zak Hepburn: Palace Cinemas Curator of Film and Screen Culture, national programmer, and Creative Director at Astor Theatre, Melbourne.
Research Interests:
This Oxford University conference paper focused on the postmodern elements in Pons’ film "Barcelona (un mapa)" (2007). Abstract: "Of interest is the tolerant relationship between a Catalan husband and wife and... more
This Oxford University conference paper focused on the postmodern elements in Pons’ film "Barcelona (un mapa)" (2007). Abstract: "Of interest is the tolerant relationship between a Catalan husband and wife and the fluid gender notions adhered to by the former; a man who repeatedly engages in gender performativity within the safety of his own home and who, by refraining from doing so in a public external space, could be considered sexually inhibited as he may feel hindered in his freedom to express himself in now democratic Spain; conscious of the social stigma that he may attract were he to embrace his dual identity. The project additionally explores the representation of Barcelona as a capital that can be mapped and spatially explored and the use of the cinematic photo effect as a way to connect the pre-democratic past with the global present. 'Barcelona (un mapa)' is based on Lluïsa Cunillé’s 2004 screenplay 'Barcelona, mapa d’ombres.' Translated into English as "Barcelona, Map of Shadows", the shadows from the past indeed linger in a visual narrative mainly steeped in the present. The film’s postmodernity is reflected in its pastiche elements and collage-like structure, with a cinematic montage challenging a conventionally chronological time pattern. Specifically, the story-line criss-crosses between past and present by way of regular flashbacks from times gone by and an opening scene featuring black and white footage of the decisive moment when Franco forces invaded Barcelona in 1939. The viewer is then swiftly transported into a colour-tinged present. Such a non-linear narrative structure underscores the postmodernity of Pons’ film, as does the episodic plot containing lengthy and highly theatrical dialogues between two characters at a time. Rather than on external action, Pons’ explores the complex relationships between not only his protagonists but also between these characters and their increasingly postmodern urban habitat. http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/probing-the-boundaries/persons/the-patient/conference-programme-abstracs-and-papers/
Research Interests:
Drawing on Seamus Heaney and his symbolic reference to a great sea change or tidal wave in epic poem “The Cure at Troy” (1990) – much referred to in these gradually post-pandemic times and indicating that a new chapter is about to begin –... more
Drawing on Seamus Heaney and his symbolic reference to a great sea change or tidal wave in epic poem “The Cure at Troy” (1990) – much referred to in these gradually post-pandemic times and indicating that a new chapter is about to begin – and “The City” by Ted Hughes, where a life is read like a poem and in the many depths of the urban space the writer roams “my own darkness”, this paper looks at human resilience in the face of an interrupted COVID reality that has brought a fundamental shift to the way we view the world and our role in society. In our era of a New Normal, the idea that “less is more” is quickly becoming a mantra for our times, a time characterised by a gradual distancing from material hype while we turn to nature for solace and guidance – as importantly advocated by Heaney and Hughes who illuminate our path as we gain a greater understanding of what really matters at the core. We likewise begin to see commonalities between people and cultures, and we open up a space for a greater sense of authenticity. As we are now stepping into the initial stages of 2023, enteringa new chapter; have we gained existential insights from the COVID-19 pandemic and will this lead to new beginnings where the written word helps us along the way?
Research Interests:
This chapter explores the representation of the human body, with a particular focus on transgenesis and transgenderism, in Pedro Almodóvar’s La Ley del Deseo (Law of Desire) (1987) and La Piel que Habito (The Skin I Live In) (2011).... more
This chapter explores the representation of the human body, with a particular focus on transgenesis and transgenderism, in Pedro Almodóvar’s La Ley del Deseo (Law of Desire) (1987) and La Piel que Habito (The Skin I Live In) (2011). Although released 24 years apart, both films represent the female body as a construct that mirrors the fluid reality of the postmodern era in which this body is found. Thus, as the physical space of our global habitat has become ever more artificial, fragmented and unfixed so, too, the screened individual is a ‘floating and drifting self,’ a being that has become increasingly hard to define. Known for his unconventional themes and plots, Almodóvar here challenges traditional notions of what is male and female and the two concepts merge. The viewer explores a fluid corporeal and gendered territory as the once biologically male protagonists are subjected to either voluntary or forced sex change, leaving them physically transformed into a female although their thought patterns are still partly male. Gender and body are open to new interpretations as the filmmaker demonstrates how the human body (and skin), in a sexually permissive, socially and culturally less rigid era, can be surgically and bio-medically altered through a number of procedures, a process which by its end result at times reminds of a Deleuzian becoming. The screened individual is physically changeable, body and mind unfixed concepts, as one identity is left behind and another is adopted. Almodóvar’s man/woman/construct resembles what Zygmunt Bauman has called ‘denizens of’ a ‘postmodern habitat’ that ‘have a rootless and inconclusive existence.’ The argument is inserted into a Baumanian and Deleuzian framework and the fluidity of the human being is analysed from a partly postmodern perspective.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In these transformative times of interrupted lives, humanity has had to take a step back and subject its frantic, rushed existence to a profound analytical glance. The COVID pandemic has caused millions to suffer and the elderly are more... more
In these transformative times of interrupted lives, humanity has had to take a step back and subject its frantic, rushed existence to a profound analytical glance. The COVID pandemic has caused millions to suffer and the elderly are more vulnerable than ever; moreover, many families are left to mourn alone, not always able to gather around their departed loved ones at the time of grief. This has led many to believe that humanity has lost control of its environment and its destiny. Yet, if recent predictions by sociologists come true, the current, seemingly never-ending pandemic might have some positive results. The anguish it causes may be, in fact, teaching us to appreciate the value of the natural world that we are depleting, to understand “the other”, and to recognise the planet-saving significance of the phrase “less is more”. And while the world’s populations slowly realise that their social environment has changed permanently, the pandemic’s beneficial upshot might be that people will be mindful of things beyond their immediate concerns and will begin to see the “bigger picture”. In view of the speculative disarray inherent to our present condition, this paper proposes existentialism as a system of thought with the intrinsic power to guide individual and social awareness; it thus analyses our present in an interpretive and pragmatic light while it draws on the existentialist theories of Søren Kierkegaard and Simone de Beauvoir. Both philosophers are querying and inquisitive and both timelessly relevant, sensible and direct about what they see is at the core of human existence.
Research Interests:
The focus of this article is Alain Resnais' representation of collective and individual memory and identity in Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959). The film is based on Marguerite Duras' script from 1958 and remains faithful to this... more
The focus of this article is Alain Resnais' representation of collective and individual memory and identity in Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959). The film is based on Marguerite Duras' script from 1958 and remains faithful to this original text. With partial reference to Giuliana Bruno's views on imaginary cities and urban cartography, the screened urban space will here be read as an emotive map in which the individual love story between the protagonists unfolds against the backdrop of their almost equally intimate relationship with the historically abused city of Hiroshima. This, in Bruno's words helps create an affective "map of love" (243) or a "body-city on a tender map" (242). The paper highlights the fluid relationship between the protagonists and their environment, as well as the semi-documentary aspects of a film that establishes an effective dialogue between past and present.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Inserting the discourse within an existentialist framework, this paper examines our existence of interrupted realities through the lens of Kierkegaardian thoughts and also draws on Simone de Beauvoir's "Qu'est-ce... more
Inserting the discourse within an existentialist framework, this paper examines our existence of interrupted realities through the lens of Kierkegaardian thoughts and also draws on Simone de Beauvoir's "Qu'est-ce que l'existentialisme?" (1947). As we navigate a surrealist time of COVID-19 (ab)normal, the lingering pandemic has left an impact on a both societal and psychosocial level. With societies across the globe facing continuous restrictions, what happens to free will? De Beauvoir defines our raison d'être as the individual having reality "only through his engagement in the world". In this period of limited individual freedom, can we still talk of free will and how shall we engage with this all-pervasive, rule-changing pandemic 'New Normal'?
Research Interests: Simone de Beauvoir, Kierkegaard, Free Will, Free Will and Moral Responsibility, Simone de Beauvoir (Philosophy), and 10 moreExistentialism, Søren Kierkegaard, Restrictions on Speech, Globe, New Normal, Pandemic, Belief in Free Will, The New Normal, COVID-19 PANDEMIC, and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
The current COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need to “think outside the box”. As societies across the planet gradually become more interconnected, the dominance of outmoded social practices surrounding human interaction, work,... more
The current COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need to “think outside the box”. As societies across the planet gradually become more interconnected, the dominance of outmoded social practices surrounding human interaction, work, leisure and space is being challenged on a daily basis. Mediatic productions such as film have always presented opportunities for expanding the reach of particular messages and disseminating topical views and perspectives. In honour of Federico Fellini (1920-1993) on the 100th anniversary of his birth, this paper undertakes a comprehensive comparison between the bold and absurdist cinema of the Post- Neorealist filmmaker and today’s also strange and perplexing social environment. Contextualising his cinema within an auteurist framework, we highlight how ground-breaking Fellini was in embracing the unconventional; by doing so he provided a practical guide for navigating contemporary reality. With productions that seduce and impress viewers worldwide, Fellini defied established cinematographic practices, as exemplified by his experimentation with overlapping narrative styles. His films bestir a new way of thinking by generating an anomalous world, one where events take place beyond the scope of what the viewer anticipates as “natural”. But the appraisal of what is “natural” is contingent upon the viewer’s belief structure: by presenting a world where events happen outside the realm of practical expectations, Fellini’s timeless cinema questions outdated belief systems and sets the guidelines for how to navigate the unanticipated complexities of the contemporary world. Reality and fiction merge into one. Keywords: absurdism, COVID-19, Fellini, interrupted realities, reality resembling fiction
Research Interests:
© 2015 Dr. Jytte HolmqvistHow does the gradual transformation of the Spanish metropolis from 1980 to 2013 reflect not only concurrent socio-political changes in contemporary Spain, but also the increasingly fluid space that is the global... more
© 2015 Dr. Jytte HolmqvistHow does the gradual transformation of the Spanish metropolis from 1980 to 2013 reflect not only concurrent socio-political changes in contemporary Spain, but also the increasingly fluid space that is the global urban habitat of today? And how can unfixed gender identities and an altered human anatomy in the cinema of Pedro Almodóvar and, to some extent, Ventura Pons be viewed as metaphors for the changing city in which this transformed individual lives? The fluid body and identity of the on-screen transvestite and transsexual occupies a third space located somewhere between the traditionally male and female. The body becomes a construct that mirrors the increasingly artificial and dual cinematic city where the scale replica often replaces the real urban space. This thesis thus analyses the cities of Madrid and Barcelona in films by both filmmakers as spaces that are becoming ever more abstract, fluid, complex and artificial as globalisation takes a hold of our postmodern era. The films explored are considered important visual documents that reflect not only Spain’s move from dictatorship to democracy, but also the transformation of the Spanish and Catalan capitals and the move from concrete urban habitat to a more abstract global space – which is not always entirely Hispanic in feel. It is therefore to be concluded that Spain both on- and off screen, is becoming ever more outward-looking in perspective. In the analysis of films spanning from the 1980s to date, the thesis argument revolves primarily around Zygmunt Bauman’s theories on postmodern liquid societies and related theories applicable to postmodernity and the urban environment by cultural geography scholar David Harvey. With regard to fluid gender representations in the cinema analysed, Judith Butler’s views on gender performativity will be linked to the Develuzian concept of becoming, which again relates to Bauman’s more all-encompassing idea of a liquid global society defined by its overall lack of stability and constant motion
Research Interests:
This article focusses on Chilean emigrants in Melbourne and examines the role of memory in their adapting to Australian society and maintaining a relationship with their home country. From 1973 well into the 1980s, thousands of Chileans... more
This article focusses on Chilean emigrants in Melbourne and examines the role of memory in their adapting to Australian society and maintaining a relationship with their home country. From 1973 well into the 1980s, thousands of Chileans who fled the Pinochet dictatorship arrived in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, or Brisbane. After the end of the regime, the political émigrés were joined by fellow citizens who settled in Australia for a multitude of reasons. In negotiating conflictive social and cultural dynamics, grappling with identity questions, and pursuing career opportunities, Chilean Australians are a socially, politically, and ethnically diverse group. Despite individual differences, the members of the community display a social commitment that is grounded in common experiences and memories. Our analysis argues that the Chilean community dedicated to protecting and advancing human rights issues and protesting discrimination in cultural and political formats has become one of the most progressive forces in Australian society.
Research Interests:
Inserting the discourse within an existentialist framework, this paper examines our existence of interrupted realities through the lens of Kierkegaardian thoughts and also draws on Simone de Beauvoir's "Qu'est-ce... more
Inserting the discourse within an existentialist framework, this paper examines our existence of interrupted realities through the lens of Kierkegaardian thoughts and also draws on Simone de Beauvoir's "Qu'est-ce que l'existentialisme?" (1947). As we navigate a surrealist time of COVID-19 (ab)normal, the lingering pandemic has left an impact on a both societal and psychosocial level. With societies across the globe facing continuous restrictions, what happens to free will? De Beauvoir defines our raison d'être as the individual having reality "only through his engagement in the world". In this period of limited individual freedom, can we still talk of free will and how shall we engage with this all-pervasive, rule-changing pandemic 'New Normal'?
Research Interests: Simone de Beauvoir, Kierkegaard, Free Will, Free Will and Moral Responsibility, Simone de Beauvoir (Philosophy), and 10 moreExistentialism, Søren Kierkegaard, Restrictions on Speech, Globe, New Normal, Pandemic, Belief in Free Will, The New Normal, COVID-19 PANDEMIC, and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Drawing on Seamus Heaney and his symbolic reference to a great sea change or tidal wave in epic poem “The Cure at Troy” (1990) – much referred to in these gradually post-pandemic times and indicating that a new chapter is about to begin –... more
Drawing on Seamus Heaney and his symbolic reference to a great sea change or tidal wave in epic poem “The Cure at Troy” (1990) – much referred to in these gradually post-pandemic times and indicating that a new chapter is about to begin – and “The City” by Ted Hughes, where a life is read like a poem and in the many depths of the urban space the writer roams “my own darkness”, this paper looks at human resilience in the face of an interrupted COVID reality that has brought a fundamental shift to the way we view the world and our role in society. In our era of a New Normal, the idea that “less is more” is quickly becoming a mantra for our times, a time characterised by a gradual distancing from material hype while we turn to nature for solace and guidance – as importantly advocated by Heaney and Hughes who illuminate our path as we gain a greater understanding of what really matters at the core. We likewise begin to see commonalities between people and cultures, and we open up a space for a greater sense of authenticity. As we are now stepping into the initial stages of 2023, enteringa new chapter; have we gained existential insights from the COVID-19 pandemic and will this lead to new beginnings where the written word helps us along the way?
Research Interests:
Inserting the discourse within an existentialist framework, this paper examines our existence of interrupted realities through the lens of Kierkegaardian thoughts and also draws on Simone de Beauvoir's "Qu'est-ce que l'existentialisme?"... more
Inserting the discourse within an existentialist framework, this paper examines our existence of interrupted realities through the lens of Kierkegaardian thoughts and also draws on Simone de Beauvoir's "Qu'est-ce que l'existentialisme?" (1947). As we navigate a surrealist time of COVID-19 (ab)normal, the lingering pandemic has left an impact on a both societal and psychosocial level. With societies across the globe facing continuous restrictions, what happens to free will? De Beauvoir defines our raison d'être as the individual having reality "only through his engagement in the world". In this period of limited individual freedom, can we still talk of free will and how shall we engage with this all-pervasive, rule-changing pandemic 'New Normal'?
Research Interests:
Drawing on Seamus Heaney and his symbolic reference to a great sea change or tidal wave in epic poem “The Cure at Troy” (1990) – much referred to in these gradually post-pandemic times and indicating that a new chapter is about to begin –... more
Drawing on Seamus Heaney and his symbolic reference to a great sea change or tidal wave in epic poem “The Cure at Troy” (1990) – much referred to in these gradually post-pandemic times and indicating that a new chapter is about to begin – and “The City” by Ted Hughes, where a life is read like a poem and in the many depths of the urban space the writer roams “my own darkness”, this paper looks at human resilience in the face of an interrupted COVID reality that has brought a fundamental shift to the way we view the world and our role in society. In our era of a New Normal, the idea that “less is more” is quickly becoming a mantra for our times, a time characterised by a gradual distancing from material hype while we turn to nature for solace and guidance – as importantly advocated by Heaney and Hughes who illuminate our path as we gain a greater understanding of what really matters at the core. We likewise begin to see commonalities between people and cultures, and we open up a space for a greater sense of authenticity. As we are now stepping into the initial stages of 2023, enteringa new chapter; have we gained existential insights from the COVID-19 pandemic and will this lead to new beginnings where the written word helps us along the way?
Research Interests:
This poetic analysis queries what it means to be human and alive at a time of interrupted pandemic realities. We draw a link between Søren Kierkegaard and our contemporary Louise Glück in their focus on an individual battling with fears,... more
This poetic analysis queries what it means to be human and alive at a time of interrupted pandemic realities. We draw a link between Søren Kierkegaard and our contemporary Louise Glück in their focus on an individual battling with fears, who goes their own way defying norms and conventions. How does Kierkegaard in The lily of the field and the bird of the air (1849) metaphorically show us the way to finding inner peace and a sense of solace in that which is supposedly less, and teach us to appreciate the divinity found in nature? What does Glück teach us about resilience in collections of poetry The wild iris (1992) and Averno (2006)? How do the two thematically converge and indirectly advocate for a life of stoic resilience where, with individual freedom as our end goal, we learn to endure anguish and pain-embracing suffering as a way forward?
/ Inscriptions is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes contemporary thinking on art, philosophy and psycho-analysis.
/ Inscriptions is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes contemporary thinking on art, philosophy and psycho-analysis.
Research Interests:
From Joan Lindsay and cinematic master Peter Weir to Ted Kotcheff and Warwick Thornton, over past decades authors, screenwriters and filmmakers have produced films that depict the vast Australian landscape-simply referred to as terra... more
From Joan Lindsay and cinematic master Peter Weir to Ted Kotcheff and Warwick Thornton, over past decades authors, screenwriters and filmmakers have produced films that depict the vast Australian landscape-simply referred to as terra nullius during colonial times by settlers literally confronting a continent vastly different from anything they were culturally and geographically accustomed to-as mysterious, impenetrable and ominous. Just like the dark cold of Scandinavia lends itself perfectly to contemporary Nordic Noir, the Australian New Wave or Australian Film Revival of the 1970s and 1980s saw the release of films that encapsulated the eeriness of this largely rugged, arid and windswept continent, which opens up possibilities for anything to happen within those very, limitless, territories. This article analyses Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Kotcheff's horror flick par excellence Wake in Fright (1971); "the best and most terrifying film about Australia in existence" and with a TV-series remake in 2017, and Thornton's more recent portrayal of Aboriginal misery and poverty Samson and Delilah (2009) set against a hostile urban backdrop, from a Foucauldian perspective. In its theoretical framework it also draws primarily on Freud. Heterotopia is used as a term to refer to strange, bewildering spaces that are disturbing and undecipherable-also described as "an unimaginable space, representable only in language, and as a kind of semimythical real site" (as articulated in Knight, 2017, 141). Foucault's concept is applied in a cinematic context and used in conjunction with Freud's notion of the uncanny as a feeling of uneasiness; or, as has been explained in his seminal text "The Uncanny" (1919), "that class of the terrifying that leads back to something long known to us, once very familiar." 1 We argue that these eerie, fear-induced screened narratives represent a nation whose weather-beaten, freedom-loving yet at heart anxiety-ridden people are most definitely a product of their environment.
Research Interests: Paul Ricoeur, Michel Foucault, Aboriginal History in Australia, Ricoeur, Australian colonial history, and 9 moreAustralian Cinema, Peter Weir, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Joan Lindsay, Foucault, Samson and Delilah, Ted Kotcheff, Warwick Thornton, and Mabo and Others v Queensland (No .2) [1992] Commonwealth Law Reports 175
The current COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need to “think outside the box”. As societies across the planet gradually become more interconnected, the dominance of outmoded social practices surrounding human interaction, work,... more
The current COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need to “think outside the box”. As societies across the planet gradually become more interconnected, the dominance of outmoded social practices surrounding human interaction, work, leisure and space is being challenged on a daily basis. Mediatic productions such as film have always presented opportunities for expanding the reach of particular messages and disseminating topical views and perspectives. In honour of Federico Fellini (1920-1993) on the 100th anniversary of his birth, this paper undertakes a comprehensive comparison between the bold and absurdist cinema of the Post- Neorealist filmmaker and today’s also strange and perplexing social environment. Contextualising his cinema within an auteurist framework, we highlight how ground-breaking Fellini was in embracing the unconventional; by doing so he provided a practical guide for navigating contemporary reality. With productions that seduce and impress viewers worldwide, Fellini defied established cinematographic practices, as exemplified by his experimentation with overlapping narrative styles. His films bestir a new way of thinking by generating an anomalous world, one where events take place beyond the scope of what the viewer anticipates as “natural”. But the appraisal of what is “natural” is contingent upon the viewer’s belief structure: by presenting a world where events happen outside the realm of practical expectations, Fellini’s timeless cinema questions outdated belief systems and sets the guidelines for how to navigate the unanticipated complexities of the contemporary world. Reality and fiction merge into one. Keywords: absurdism, COVID-19, Fellini, interrupted realities, reality resembling fiction
Research Interests:
The current COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need to “think outside the box”. As societies across the planet gradually become more interconnected, the dominance of outmoded social practices surrounding human interaction, work,... more
The current COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need to “think outside the box”. As societies across the planet gradually become more interconnected, the dominance of outmoded social practices surrounding human interaction, work, leisure and space is being challenged on a daily basis. Mediatic productions such as film have always presented opportunities for expanding the reach of particular messages and disseminating topical views and perspectives.
In honour of Federico Fellini (1920-1993) on the 100th anniversary of his birth, this paper undertakes a comprehensive comparison between the bold and absurdist cinema of the Post- Neorealist filmmaker and today’s also strange and perplexing social environment. Contextualising his cinema within an auteurist framework, we highlight how ground-breaking
Fellini was in embracing the unconventional; by doing so he provided a practical guide for navigating contemporary reality. With productions that seduce and impress viewers worldwide, Fellini defied established cinematographic practices, as exemplified by his experimentation with overlapping narrative styles. His films bestir a new way of thinking by
generating an anomalous world, one where events take place beyond the scope of what the viewer anticipates as “natural”. But the appraisal of what is “natural” is contingent upon the viewer’s belief structure: by presenting a world where events happen outside the realm of practical expectations, Fellini’s timeless cinema questions outdated belief systems and sets the guidelines for how to navigate the unanticipated complexities of the contemporary world. Reality and fiction merge into one.
Keywords: absurdism, COVID-19, Fellini, interrupted realities, reality resembling fiction
In honour of Federico Fellini (1920-1993) on the 100th anniversary of his birth, this paper undertakes a comprehensive comparison between the bold and absurdist cinema of the Post- Neorealist filmmaker and today’s also strange and perplexing social environment. Contextualising his cinema within an auteurist framework, we highlight how ground-breaking
Fellini was in embracing the unconventional; by doing so he provided a practical guide for navigating contemporary reality. With productions that seduce and impress viewers worldwide, Fellini defied established cinematographic practices, as exemplified by his experimentation with overlapping narrative styles. His films bestir a new way of thinking by
generating an anomalous world, one where events take place beyond the scope of what the viewer anticipates as “natural”. But the appraisal of what is “natural” is contingent upon the viewer’s belief structure: by presenting a world where events happen outside the realm of practical expectations, Fellini’s timeless cinema questions outdated belief systems and sets the guidelines for how to navigate the unanticipated complexities of the contemporary world. Reality and fiction merge into one.
Keywords: absurdism, COVID-19, Fellini, interrupted realities, reality resembling fiction
Research Interests:
The current COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need to “think outside the box”. As societies across the planet gradually become more interconnected, the dominance of outmoded social practices surrounding human interaction, work,... more
The current COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need to “think outside the box”. As societies across the planet gradually become more interconnected, the dominance of outmoded social practices surrounding human interaction, work, leisure and space is being challenged on
a daily basis. Mediatic productions such as film have always presented opportunities for expanding the reach of particular messages and disseminating topical views and perspectives.
In honour of Federico Fellini (1920-1993) on the 100th anniversary of his birth, this paper undertakes a comprehensive comparison between the bold and absurdist cinema of the Post- Neorealist filmmaker and today’s also strange and perplexing social environment. Contextualising his cinema within an auteurist framework, we highlight how ground-breaking
Fellini was in embracing the unconventional; by doing so he provided a practical guide for navigating contemporary reality. With productions that seduce and impress viewers worldwide, Fellini defied established cinematographic practices, as exemplified by his experimentation with overlapping narrative styles. His films bestir a new way of thinking by
generating an anomalous world, one where events take place beyond the scope of what the viewer anticipates as “natural”. But the appraisal of what is “natural” is contingent upon the viewer’s belief structure: by presenting a world where events happen outside the realm of practical expectations, Fellini’s timeless cinema questions outdated belief systems and sets the guidelines for how to navigate the unanticipated complexities of the contemporary world. Reality and fiction merge into one.
Keywords: absurdism, COVID-19, Fellini, interrupted realities, reality resembling fiction
a daily basis. Mediatic productions such as film have always presented opportunities for expanding the reach of particular messages and disseminating topical views and perspectives.
In honour of Federico Fellini (1920-1993) on the 100th anniversary of his birth, this paper undertakes a comprehensive comparison between the bold and absurdist cinema of the Post- Neorealist filmmaker and today’s also strange and perplexing social environment. Contextualising his cinema within an auteurist framework, we highlight how ground-breaking
Fellini was in embracing the unconventional; by doing so he provided a practical guide for navigating contemporary reality. With productions that seduce and impress viewers worldwide, Fellini defied established cinematographic practices, as exemplified by his experimentation with overlapping narrative styles. His films bestir a new way of thinking by
generating an anomalous world, one where events take place beyond the scope of what the viewer anticipates as “natural”. But the appraisal of what is “natural” is contingent upon the viewer’s belief structure: by presenting a world where events happen outside the realm of practical expectations, Fellini’s timeless cinema questions outdated belief systems and sets the guidelines for how to navigate the unanticipated complexities of the contemporary world. Reality and fiction merge into one.
Keywords: absurdism, COVID-19, Fellini, interrupted realities, reality resembling fiction
Research Interests:
Likheter och skillnader mellan det svenska och det nyzeeländska skolsystemet på förskole - och grundskolenivå. De två skolsystemen jämförs med hjälp av information hämtad i intervjuer, enkäter, skoldokument, artiklar, etc.Similarities and... more
Likheter och skillnader mellan det svenska och det nyzeeländska skolsystemet på förskole - och grundskolenivå. De två skolsystemen jämförs med hjälp av information hämtad i intervjuer, enkäter, skoldokument, artiklar, etc.Similarities and differences between the Swedish and the New Zealand school systems on a primary and secondary level. The above school systems are compared and highlighted with the aid of educational documents, interviews and questionnaires, articles and websites, etc
Research Interests:
The following essay explores the relationship between contrasting cultures and cultural spaces within a rural Australian, Victorian, context, with reference to the narrated cultural landscape in Joan Lindsay’s novel Picnic at Hanging Rock... more
The following essay explores the relationship between contrasting cultures and cultural spaces within a rural Australian, Victorian, context, with reference to the narrated cultural landscape in Joan Lindsay’s novel Picnic at Hanging Rock (1967) and in the film based on the novel, by Peter Weir (1975). In the analysis of the five first scenes of the film, the focus will be on the notion of scenic- and human- beauty that is at once arresting and foreboding, and the various contrasting and parallel spaces that characterise the structure of book and film. The article will draw from a number of additional secondary sources, including various cultural readings which offer alternative methodological approaches to the works analysed, and recorded 1970s interviews with the author and the filmmaker.
Research Interests:
Equally familiar with Australian and international audiences, in her concerts Melbourne-based Argentinian pianist Andrea Katz, who counts University of Melbourne as her main affiliation, brings us into the past and back again.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In these transformative times of interrupted lives, humanity has had to take a step back and subject its frantic, rushed existence to a profound analytical glance. The COVID pandemic has caused millions to suffer and the elderly are more... more
In these transformative times of interrupted lives, humanity has had to take a step back and subject its frantic, rushed existence to a profound analytical glance. The COVID pandemic has caused millions to suffer and the elderly are more vulnerable than ever; moreover, many families are left to mourn alone, not always able to gather around their departed loved ones at the time of grief. This has led many to believe that humanity has lost control of its environment and its destiny. Yet, if recent predictions by sociologists come true, the current, seemingly never-ending pandemic might have some positive results. The anguish it causes may be, in fact, teaching us to appreciate the value of the natural world that we are depleting, to understand “the other”, and to recognise the planet-saving significance of the phrase “less is more”. And while the world’s populations slowly realise that their social environment has changed permanently, the pandemic’s beneficial upshot might be that peo...
Research Interests:
In these transformative times of interrupted lives, humanity has had to take a step back and subject its frantic, rushed existence to a profound analytical glance. The COVID pandemic has caused millions to suffer and the elderly are more... more
In these transformative times of interrupted lives, humanity has had to take a step back and subject its frantic, rushed existence to a profound analytical glance. The COVID pandemic has caused millions to suffer and the elderly are more vulnerable than ever; moreover, many families are left to mourn alone, not always able to gather around their departed loved ones at the time of grief. This has led many to believe that humanity has lost control of its environment and its destiny. Yet, if recent predictions by sociologists come true, the current, seemingly never-ending pandemic might have some positive results. The anguish it causes may be, in fact, teaching us to appreciate the value of the natural world that we are depleting, to understand “the other”, and to recognise the planet-saving significance of the phrase “less is more”. And while the world’s populations slowly realise that their social environment has changed permanently, the pandemic’s beneficial upshot might be that people will be mindful of things beyond their immediate concerns and will begin to see the “bigger picture”. In view of the speculative disarray inherent to our present condition, this paper proposes existentialism as a system of thought with the intrinsic power to guide individual and social awareness; it thus analyses our present in an interpretive and pragmatic light while it draws on the existentialist theories of Søren Kierkegaard and Simone de Beauvoir. Both philosophers are querying and inquisitive and both timelessly relevant, sensible and direct about what they see is at the core of human existence.
Research Interests:
A number of reviews of Orwell’s totalitarian tale “1984”—the first filmic sci-fi drama based on the book released in 1956—interpret it in an antisemitism-oriented light. In his symbolic, classic yet timeless cult narrative, Orwell leaves... more
A number of reviews of Orwell’s totalitarian tale “1984”—the first filmic sci-fi drama based on the book released in 1956—interpret it in an antisemitism-oriented light. In his symbolic, classic yet timeless cult narrative, Orwell leaves us with a political message and shows how a totalitarian power ruthlessly strips citizens of their individuality, identity, and human value. Narrated as a fable, “1984” is a somber reflection on a utopia turned dystopia, where power falls into the hands of a privileged elite. Fast-forward to 2021 and as COVID-19 impacts the world at large, it has triggered a plethora of new inventions as we operate under new conditions in an increasingly technocratic society. In today’s “New Normal” or era of interrupted realities, “1984” offers many insights. The oppressed are yet again the masses, yet while the minority crushes the majority or the collective in “1984,” our current virus conquers the world without prejudice. With our reality resembling science fiction, we are alienated from one another in real-time yet approach each other virtually. Technology our guiding star, we have gained increased sets of transferrable skills and become technologically savvier by the minute yet may become all the more socially awkward—perhaps even inept. This article makes a sweeping comparison between pandemic overreliance on technology and the future society envisioned in “1984”—Orwell’s fable now stepping away from the page, seeping into our current context, and becoming our reality as we (did not) know it.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This chapter explores the representation of the human body, with a particular focus on transgenesis and transgenderism, in Pedro Almodóvar’s La Ley del Deseo (Law of Desire) (1987) and La Piel que Habito (The Skin I Live In) (2011).... more
This chapter explores the representation of the human body, with a particular focus on transgenesis and transgenderism, in Pedro Almodóvar’s La Ley del Deseo (Law of Desire) (1987) and La Piel que Habito (The Skin I Live In) (2011). Although released 24 years apart, both films represent the female body as a construct that mirrors the fluid reality of the postmodern era in which this body is found. Thus, as the physical space of our global habitat has become ever more artificial, fragmented and unfixed so, too, the screened individual is a ‘floating and drifting self,’ a being that has become increasingly hard to define. Known for his unconventional themes and plots, Almodóvar here challenges traditional notions of what is male and female and the two concepts merge. The viewer explores a fluid corporeal and gendered territory as the once biologically male protagonists are subjected to either voluntary or forced sex change, leaving them physically transformed into a female although their thought patterns are still partly male. Gender and body are open to new interpretations as the filmmaker demonstrates how the human body (and skin), in a sexually permissive, socially and culturally less rigid era, can be surgically and bio-medically altered through a number of procedures, a process which by its end result at times reminds of a Deleuzian becoming. The screened individual is physically changeable, body and mind unfixed concepts, as one identity is left behind and another is adopted. Almodóvar’s man/woman/construct resembles what Zygmunt Bauman has called ‘denizens of’ a ‘postmodern habitat’ that ‘have a rootless and inconclusive existence.’ The argument is inserted into a Baumanian and Deleuzian framework and the fluidity of the human being is analysed from a partly postmodern perspective.
Research Interests:
The focus of this article is Alain Resnais’ representation of collective and individual memory and identity in Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959). The film is based on Marguerite Duras’ script from 1958 and remains faithful to this original text.... more
The focus of this article is Alain Resnais’ representation of collective and individual memory and identity in Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959). The film is based on Marguerite Duras’ script from 1958 and remains faithful to this original text. With partial reference to Giuliana Bruno’s views on imaginary cities and urban cartography, the screened urban space will here be read as an emotive map in which the individual love story between the protagonists unfolds against the backdrop of their almost equally intimate relationship with the historically abused city of Hiroshima. This, in Bruno’s words helps create an affective “map of love” (243) or a “body-city on a tender map” (242). Discourses on memory and forgetting, individual and collective memory will also frame a filmic analysis where Paul Ricoeur is given particular theoretical attention. In a film partly dealing with the traumas of the 1945 atomic bomb and its aftermath, Resnais visually and narratively juxtaposes wartime Hiroshima and the city twelve years after the event: as stated in Duras’ original filmscript, “[t]he time is summer, 1957-August-at Hiroshima” (8). In doing so, he unveils the many layers of historical unease that dwell behind Hiroshima’s currently peaceful condition. The paper highlights the fluid relationship between the protagonists and their environment, as well as the semi-documentary aspects of a film that establishes an effective dialogue between past and present.
Research Interests:
When cinematic powerhouse Pedro Almodóvar made headlines after a hiatus period, with the Spanish-American drama The Human Voice (2020) last year, his short but all the more emotionally-charged film paid aesthetic and narrative tribute to... more
When cinematic powerhouse Pedro Almodóvar made headlines after a hiatus period, with the Spanish-American drama The Human Voice (2020) last year, his short but all the more emotionally-charged film paid aesthetic and narrative tribute to artistic predecessor Jean Cocteau – the writer of the original play or monodrama La Voix humaine (1930) on which the short is based. Audiences and critics alike were given a golden opportunity to enjoy the Spanish filmmaker at his cross-referential and interdisciplinary, albeit brief, best in a film lasting a mere 30 minutes but bristling with all the more sentiment and where “the Spanish master reconfigured Jean Cocteau’s one-actor play of the same title as the foundation for a meta-concoction.”2
Research Interests:
Rich, fascinating, stylish and lush in colour, Gillian Armstrong’s 2006 documentary Unfolding Florence – The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst (nominated for four awards and winner of the Queensland & Northern Territory Silver Award and... more
Rich, fascinating, stylish and lush in colour, Gillian Armstrong’s 2006 documentary Unfolding Florence – The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst (nominated for four awards and winner of the Queensland & Northern Territory Silver Award and the Australian Screen Editors Award) is aesthetically pleasing to both the eye and the ear. Featuring interviews with sophisticated friends of the Australian style icon, as well as fellow co-workers, aficionados and acquaintances operating at the higher echelons of society – who ponder their words carefully and elegantly verbalise their memories of and their lingering awe of the Australian designer, in top notch English – Armstrong’s film effectively highlights the absolute charisma of Florence Broadhurst and her carpe diem attitude to life; a life led to the fullest.
Research Interests:
Saint Valentine and Lord Byron lead the way
Research Interests:
Cinema and the arts offer an escape from pandemic existence, until we realize we are closer to fiction than we might have imagined.
Research Interests:
Despite our individual differences we come together as one
Research Interests:
Venturing into unknown territory opens up new doors but as we clean up the mess left behind we must proceed with caution, be discerning and Do the Right Thing
Research Interests:
How opening up a line of communication with the other, not necessarily better, half of ourselves helps us gain control at a time defined by its inherent unpredictability
Research Interests:
Dr Maddalena Tirabassi is a Fulbright scholar, Director of the Centro Altreitalie on Italian Migration, Globus et Locus, and editor of the journal Altreitalie. A top scholar on Italian migration worldwide, Dr. Tirabassi is currently... more
Dr Maddalena Tirabassi is a Fulbright scholar, Director of the Centro Altreitalie on Italian Migration, Globus et Locus, and editor of the journal Altreitalie.
A top scholar on Italian migration worldwide, Dr. Tirabassi is currently researching, with Alvise Del Pra’, Italian emigration from 2000 to 2020 and the impact of COVID-19 on the future of Italian emigration. The Altreitalie organisation endeavours to highlight issues relating to Italian migration trends and factors both prior to and after COVID-19, and the effects the pandemic has, and will continue to have, on Italy and its people.
A top scholar on Italian migration worldwide, Dr. Tirabassi is currently researching, with Alvise Del Pra’, Italian emigration from 2000 to 2020 and the impact of COVID-19 on the future of Italian emigration. The Altreitalie organisation endeavours to highlight issues relating to Italian migration trends and factors both prior to and after COVID-19, and the effects the pandemic has, and will continue to have, on Italy and its people.
Research Interests:
How spending time alone paves the way for great discoveries and revelations
Research Interests:
How a shift in perspective opens the path towards healthier new beginnings
Research Interests:
How stepping away from ourselves allows us to make space for others and gain greater insights
Research Interests:
How taking responsibility and being accountable for our collective actions gives us the power to control global uncertainty
Research Interests:
This book provides an insight into research conducted by participants attending The Patient: Examining Realities: 5th Global Conference, held in Oxford, England, 14-16 September, 2016. These attendees and subsequent volume contributors... more
This book provides an insight into research conducted by participants attending The Patient: Examining Realities: 5th Global Conference, held in Oxford, England, 14-16 September, 2016. These attendees and subsequent volume contributors include medical professionals and healthcare providers employed by reputable academic institutions, and who take a both scientific and practical interest in the healthcare industry and its practices. The book also includes discourses by academics with a more theoretical interest in health and the complex doctor-patient relationship. Research presented herein is both steeped in cultural traditions and reflective of new trends in certain countries across the globe. Theories, practices and trends highlighted in the book are ultimately universal in that they concern all of us on a global level.
Research Interests:
This book provides an insight into research conducted by participants attending The Patient: Examining Realities: 5th Global Conference, held at Oxford University 14-16 September, 2016. The book highlights both scientific and practical... more
This book provides an insight into research conducted by participants attending The Patient: Examining Realities: 5th Global Conference, held at Oxford University 14-16 September, 2016. The book highlights both scientific and practical aspects of today's healthcare sector and also contains discourses from academics with a research interest in film and media studies, literature and cultural studies.
The reader is interested in science and healthcare, current healthcare practices and the physical and mental aspects of being a patient. They are concerned with the human condition in general.
For more information see brill.com
The reader is interested in science and healthcare, current healthcare practices and the physical and mental aspects of being a patient. They are concerned with the human condition in general.
For more information see brill.com
Research Interests:
Communication decisively impacts upon all our lives. This inherent need to connect may either be soothing or painful, a source of intimate understanding or violent discord. Consequently, how it is brokered is challenging and often crucial... more
Communication decisively impacts upon all our lives. This inherent need to connect may either be soothing or painful, a source of intimate understanding or violent discord. Consequently, how it is brokered is challenging and often crucial in situations where those involved have quite different ways of being in and seeing the world. Good communication is equated with skills that intentionally facilitate change, the realisation of desirable outcomes and the improvement of human situations. Withdrawal of communication, or its intentional manipulation, provokes misunderstanding, mistrust, and precipitates the decline into disorder. This international collection of work specifically interrogates conflict as an essential outworking of communication, and suggests that understanding of communication’s potency in contexts of conflict can directly influence reciprocally positive outcomes.
EDITORS: Peter Bray and Marta Rzepecka.
Volume cover photo: Jytte Holmqvist:
https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004373679/front-4.xml
EDITORS: Peter Bray and Marta Rzepecka.
Volume cover photo: Jytte Holmqvist:
https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004373679/front-4.xml
Research Interests:
This interdisciplinary book chapter analyses the representation of transgenesis and transgenderism in Pedro Almodóvar's "La ley del deseo" (1987) and "La piel que habito" (2011). Of particular concern is how either forced or voluntary... more
This interdisciplinary book chapter analyses the representation of transgenesis and transgenderism in Pedro Almodóvar's "La ley del deseo" (1987) and "La piel que habito" (2011). Of particular concern is how either forced or voluntary transsexuality in these films affect the identity of the male turned female protagonists. Is their identity as transformed as the postoperative body they both inhabit or is an original identity left intact and thus to be seen as a free-floating entity independent of the, at times, imprisoned physical shell? In the two Spanish films, the female body can be seen as a construct that partly mirrors the fluid reality of our postmodern era, defined as one of "perpetuum mobile" (Bauman, "Culture in a Liquid Modern World", 2011:18), or "the eventuality of of existing in a constant state of flux" (Bauman, "Postmodernity and its Discontents", 1997: 21). As the physical space of our global habitat has become ever more artificial, fragmented and unfixed, so, too, the - on and off-screen - individual is a "floating and drifting self". With regard to male and female gender notions in the film, stereotypes are challenged when the two concepts merge into one through the transgender persona of the screened transsexual. The viewer explores a fluid corporeal and gendered territory as the protagonists undergo an either voluntary sex change, rendering them female in appearance although their thought patterns are still partly male. Gender and body are hence open to new interpretations as we witness how the human body, and skin, in a sexually permissive, socially and culturally less rigid era, is bio-medically altered through a number of surgical procedures - a process which, by its end result, at times reminds of a Deleuzian "becoming". The screened body and mind become unfixed concepts as one identity is left behind and another is, apparently, adopted. Or is this indeed the case?
Hard copy book chapter in "Probing the Boundaries: Beyond Present Patient Realities: Collaboration, Care, Identity". Edited by Peter Bray and Ana Maria Borlescu. Inter-Disciplinary Press, Oxford, UK, September 2015, pages 67-84.
Hard copy book chapter in "Probing the Boundaries: Beyond Present Patient Realities: Collaboration, Care, Identity". Edited by Peter Bray and Ana Maria Borlescu. Inter-Disciplinary Press, Oxford, UK, September 2015, pages 67-84.
Research Interests:
La Sociedad Hispánica de Victoria, la organización comunitaria sin fines de lucro de habla hispana más antigua de Australia, está organizando una noche de gala para celebrar sus 71 años de existencia. SBS Audio habló con tres miembros de... more
La Sociedad Hispánica de Victoria, la organización comunitaria sin fines de lucro de habla hispana más antigua de Australia, está organizando una noche de gala para celebrar sus 71 años de existencia. SBS Audio habló con tres miembros de la organización, Elivira Cifaratti, Nelda Gillies y Jytte Holmqvist sobre la función de este emprendimiento cultural que ha estado conectando a personas a través de la cultura, el idioma e intereses afines por más de siete décadas. (interview conducted by Marcia de los Santos).
https://www.sbs.com.au/language/spanish/es/podcast-episode/hispanic-society-of-victoria-continfomentando-el-sentido-de-pertenencia-en-australia/7jrci3vis
https://www.sbs.com.au/language/spanish/es/podcast-episode/hispanic-society-of-victoria-continfomentando-el-sentido-de-pertenencia-en-australia/7jrci3vis
Research Interests:
(See abstract under Wally Thompson seminar series, 2012).
Conference: 33rd Romance Languages and Literatures Conference: 4-6 April, 2013, Cincinnati, USA
Conference: 33rd Romance Languages and Literatures Conference: 4-6 April, 2013, Cincinnati, USA
Research Interests:
This paper explores the non-binary, fluid interrelationship between sexuality and gender as a performed identity with reference to the representation of the drag or cross-dresser, the transvestite; also known in some theoretical... more
This paper explores the non-binary, fluid interrelationship between sexuality and gender as a performed identity with reference to the representation of the drag or cross-dresser, the transvestite; also known in some theoretical discourses as the “third sex” (with respect to Magnus Hirschfeld’s "Die Transvestiten", 1910) and the transsexual in Pedro Almodóvar’s films, particularly "Tacones lejanos" (1991) and "La mala educación" (2004). The Spanish filmmaker is known for creating unconventional cinematic plots driven forth by characters that challenge social conventions and sexual and behavioural norms. His films are partly concerned with identity issues in relation to sexuality and gender, and special attention is given the cross-gender phenomena transsexuality, transvestism, and “the spectacle” of the drag. Almodóvar’s cinematic representation of the drag artist will be analysed in light of Judith Butler’s theories on sexuality and gender performativity, which lend themselves well to such a comparative study.
Conference: Wally Thompson Seminar Series, Ross House, Melbourne.
Conference: Wally Thompson Seminar Series, Ross House, Melbourne.
Research Interests:
This presentation focuses on the postmodern elements in Pons’ film "Barcelona (un mapa)" (2007). Of particular interest is the screened representation of the Catalan capital as a space that can be mapped and spatially explored, and the... more
This presentation focuses on the postmodern elements in Pons’ film "Barcelona (un mapa)" (2007). Of particular interest is the screened representation of the Catalan capital as a space that can be mapped and spatially explored, and the use of the cinematic photo effect as a way to connect the pre-democratic past with the global present.
"Barcelona (un mapa)" is based on Catalan playwright Lluïsa Cunillé’s 2004 screenplay "Barcelona, mapa d’ombres". Translated into English as "Barcelona, Map of Shadows", the shadows from the Catalan past indeed linger in a visual narrative mainly steeped in the present. The film’s postmodernity is reflected in its pastiche elements and collage-like structure, with a cinematic montage that challenges a conventionally chronological time pattern. Specifically, the storyline criss-crosses between past and present by way of regular flashbacks from times gone by and an opening scene which features black and white footage of the decisive moment when Franco forces invaded Barcelona in 1939. The viewer is then swiftly transported into a colour-tinged present. Such a non-linear narrative structure underscores the postmodernity of Pons’ film, as does the episodic plot featuring lengthy dialogues held between two characters at a time, in a highly theatrical fashion. Rather than predominantly focusing on external action, Pons’ explores the complex relationships not only between his protagonists but also between these characters and their increasingly postmodern urban habitat; a screened, glossy cityscape which mirrors the urban facelift that Barcelona had undergone at the time of the 1992 Summer Olympics. The juxtapositioning of images from today’s global Catalan metropolis with references to its Francoist past helps create a shifting text or visual medley where we witness a city that is seeking to find a new identity in a transitory new era, while it is still affected by its relatively recent past.
Seminar paper given as part of the Second Symposium on Catalonia in Australia. Monash University in collaboration with Melbourne University, 27 July, 2013.
http://www.xarxallull.cat/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=2903
"Barcelona (un mapa)" is based on Catalan playwright Lluïsa Cunillé’s 2004 screenplay "Barcelona, mapa d’ombres". Translated into English as "Barcelona, Map of Shadows", the shadows from the Catalan past indeed linger in a visual narrative mainly steeped in the present. The film’s postmodernity is reflected in its pastiche elements and collage-like structure, with a cinematic montage that challenges a conventionally chronological time pattern. Specifically, the storyline criss-crosses between past and present by way of regular flashbacks from times gone by and an opening scene which features black and white footage of the decisive moment when Franco forces invaded Barcelona in 1939. The viewer is then swiftly transported into a colour-tinged present. Such a non-linear narrative structure underscores the postmodernity of Pons’ film, as does the episodic plot featuring lengthy dialogues held between two characters at a time, in a highly theatrical fashion. Rather than predominantly focusing on external action, Pons’ explores the complex relationships not only between his protagonists but also between these characters and their increasingly postmodern urban habitat; a screened, glossy cityscape which mirrors the urban facelift that Barcelona had undergone at the time of the 1992 Summer Olympics. The juxtapositioning of images from today’s global Catalan metropolis with references to its Francoist past helps create a shifting text or visual medley where we witness a city that is seeking to find a new identity in a transitory new era, while it is still affected by its relatively recent past.
Seminar paper given as part of the Second Symposium on Catalonia in Australia. Monash University in collaboration with Melbourne University, 27 July, 2013.
http://www.xarxallull.cat/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=2903
Research Interests:
Research paper delivered as part of the 2013 Wally Thompson Seminar Series (conference) at RMIT University, Melbourne
Research Interests:
Conference: The Patient: 4th Global Conference, At Prague, The Czech Republic: 18-20 March, 2014 -... more
Conference: The Patient: 4th Global Conference, At Prague, The Czech Republic: 18-20 March, 2014 -
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/probing-the-boundaries/persons/the-patient/project-archives/4th-global-conference-2014/conference-programme-abstracts-and-papers/
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/probing-the-boundaries/persons/the-patient/project-archives/4th-global-conference-2014/conference-programme-abstracts-and-papers/
Research Interests:
According to Stanley Kubrick, “[I]f it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed”. This is true for award-winning canonical short story Irish writer Claire Keegan (1968) whose sparse and effective prose has hit the core of audiences... more
According to Stanley Kubrick, “[I]f it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed”. This is true for award-winning canonical short story Irish writer Claire Keegan (1968) whose sparse and effective prose has hit the core of audiences struggling to process the lingering impact of collective and individual national trauma. Keegan confronts it all head on, boldly highlighting social issues that loom large, in astute and evocative sentences told from third person perspective and where confronting thoughts, situations and scenarios spill over into the space between the words. What is left unsaid says it all. Open-ended, controlled, and graphic, Keegan’s style resembles that of Mariana Enriquez (1973) and her novellas are similarly filmic. Compared to the likes of Raymond Carver, Alice Munro, William Trevor and Anton Chekhov, Keegan acutely brings attention to the plight of the voiceless, the downtrodden, small, weak and marginalised in a system where the Catholic Church has unquestioning communities that turn a blind eye to the truth in its grip. Keegan is living proof of the power of ‘less is more’. The silence that reigns in a space of ‘NON-sayability’ in stories that keep it tight, is anything but opaque. As Keegan navigates treacherous territory, she demonstrates through words that speak volumes. This paper particularly analyses Small Things Like These, winner of the Booker Prize and the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction (2022), whose focus on the Irish Magdalene laundries weighs heavy on our collective consciousness; Melbourne’s Abbotsford Convent across the world a direct accomplice to the abuse behind closed doors. How can we remain passive in the face of wrongdoings? How does Keegan invite us to scrutinise history? And how do we read her literature through the eyes of fellow Irish national Colm Tóibín, himself “one of the contemporary masters of silence, exile, and cunning”.
Research Interests:
Inserting the discourse within an existentialist and auterial intertextuality framework, this paper focuses on an important segment of Bergman's repertoire, linked to his period in 1970s Germany. The director’s five-year self-imposed... more
Inserting the discourse within an existentialist and auterial intertextuality framework, this paper focuses on an important segment of Bergman's repertoire, linked to his period in 1970s Germany. The director’s five-year self-imposed German exile after a supposed Swedish tax evasion scandal in January 1976 saw the production of some of his best work staged at the Residenzteater in Munich. Bergman’s German stint also led to Swedish-German co-productions The Serpent’s Egg and psychological thriller/chamber drama From the Life of the Marionettes. Considered lesser works in a repertoire of masterpieces, these films deserve our attention from an interconnecting Swedish and German perspective. Psychoanalytically explorative, Bergman here delves into the human psyche and adopts a controversial stance to the Nazi movement and ideology. Both films contain Kafkaesque elements and are infused with an acute sense of ‘Unheimlichkeit’. The Serpent’s Egg delves into an abyss of human anguish and fear and paints a horrific picture of Munich during the Weimar Republic subjected to a series of events that triggered the rise of Nazism and the purging of the Jews. The Angst running like a governing thread through both this film and From the Life of the Marionettes is manifested viscerally. Bergman’s abject fascination with the Nazi movement reflects the mentality, concerns and trauma of Swedes and Germans alike – people with a common psyche, prone to self-exploration, who harbour a complex relationship with their recent past – just like the auteur in focus felt both an affinity with and an aversion to his own fatherland.
Research Interests:
This presentation strikes a chord for Julian Schnabel’s 2001 film "Before Night Falls" ("Antes que anochezca") which focuses on Cuban poet, novelist and playwright Reinaldo Arenas (1943- 1990) – openly gay and facing scorn, scrutiny and... more
This presentation strikes a chord for Julian Schnabel’s 2001 film "Before Night Falls" ("Antes que anochezca") which focuses on Cuban poet, novelist and playwright Reinaldo Arenas (1943- 1990) – openly gay and facing scorn, scrutiny and admiration alike from the public at the time. With an extensive readership and following, the controversial Cuban writer operated within a complex and repressive communist climate – the Castro regime defending heterosexual ideals and clamping down on anyone deviating from the sexual norm. Arenas gained recognition with books like "Cantando en el pozo" ("Singing in the Well", 1967), written in a postmodern vein, and critically acclaimed picaresque novel "El mundo alucinante" ("Hallucinations"), published in Mexico and France in 1969. A representative of the post-boom generation of liberal thinkers and writers, he was joined by Vargas Llosa, Severo Sarduy, and Alfredo Bryce Echenique.
Schnabel’s film highlights the struggles of an individual with the power to challenge beliefs and open mindsets but whose movements were restricted, his life jeopardized, and who was incarcerated and forced into exile. Award-winning Javier Bardem excels in his role about a man who moved the marginalized to centre stage. The speech will stress the need for inclusion when it comes to gender and a sexual identity that stands out from what is considered normal and acceptable in some cultures still, and emphasise how much we have yet to learn from the tiredless efforts by the Cuban poet to get his voice heard - also from a humanitarian perspective.
Schnabel’s film highlights the struggles of an individual with the power to challenge beliefs and open mindsets but whose movements were restricted, his life jeopardized, and who was incarcerated and forced into exile. Award-winning Javier Bardem excels in his role about a man who moved the marginalized to centre stage. The speech will stress the need for inclusion when it comes to gender and a sexual identity that stands out from what is considered normal and acceptable in some cultures still, and emphasise how much we have yet to learn from the tiredless efforts by the Cuban poet to get his voice heard - also from a humanitarian perspective.
Research Interests:
We have entered a 21st century where people, rather than uniting across borders and daring to feel an affinity with the other ̶ bridging ethnic and national differences ̶ are now increasingly vulnerable, exposed to fragmenting movements... more
We have entered a 21st century where people, rather than uniting across borders and daring to feel an affinity with the other ̶ bridging ethnic and national differences ̶ are now increasingly vulnerable, exposed to fragmenting movements often set in motion by leaders driven by egocentric values and self-interests pursued at the expense of the well-being of minorities and those occupying a lower level in the social hierarchy. While regionalism, nationalism and authoritarianism appear to be rising divisive movements triggered by such destabilising sociopolitical trends, within regionalism we can find examples of positive collaborations. Such is the case with Latin America today; a region which demonstrates a people coming together in a spirit of solidarity and creativity. Regionalism can in this case be inwardly advantageous. In a world characterised by personal disengagement and apathy, Latin America along with its indigenous communities uphold national values in a spirit of mutual comprehension on a communal level. Throughout history, these nations have been subjected to totalitarian regimes and hostile policies that disrupt societal structures. As a result, Latin American communities have developed resilience and a sense of hope deeply embedded in regional values. Its rich and diverse cinema reflects nations that despite all their uncertainties, differences, struggles and discontents have been showing the way forward. Drawing on Zygmunt Bauman, Kwame Anthony Appiah, and Richard A. Falk, this proposal explores Latin American cinema within a regional framework, looking at regionalism as a model for collective cooperation in the midst of a highly volatile world.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
A view of our current pandemic reality through a Kierkegaardian lens
Research Interests:
This is to confirm that Jytte Holmqvist actively participated in The 9th European Conference on Arts & Humanities (ECAH2021) by performing the duties of a a member of the Review Committee and thereby contributing to the academic success... more
This is to confirm that Jytte Holmqvist actively participated in The 9th European Conference on Arts & Humanities (ECAH2021) by performing the duties of a a member of the Review Committee and thereby contributing to the academic success of the event.
Research Interests:
Drawing on Seamus Heaney and his symbolic reference to a great sea change or tidal wave in epic poem "The Cure at Troy" (1990) - much referred to in these pandemic times and indicating that a new chapter is about to begin - and "The City"... more
Drawing on Seamus Heaney and his symbolic reference to a great sea change or tidal wave in epic poem "The Cure at Troy" (1990) - much referred to in these pandemic times and indicating that a new chapter is about to begin - and "The City" by Ted Hughes, where a life is read like a poem and in the many depths of the urban space the writer roams "my own darkness", this paper looks at human resilience in the face of an interrupted COVID reality that has brought a fundamental shift to the way we view our surrounding world and our role in society. In our pandemic new era, the idea that "less is more" is quickly becoming a mantra for our times; a time characterised by a distancing from material hype and frantic face-to-face interaction for the sake of it. The current all-pervasive global attitudinal and behavioural change translates into a different way of relating to our surrounding urban space; one more cautious and reluctant than in pre-COVID times, and we also witness how reality and fiction merge – our first-world cinematic reality verging on Sci-Fi surreality. Under these unpredictable new conditions, following the exodus from the city centres is an internalising of our existence as we look within. As the virus still rages outside we turn to Netflix and other online streaming systems within the safety of our own homes and escape into another, parallel, reality. This paper demonstrates, partly through a filmic analysis, how fiction and our New Normal roll into one and how two 20th-century British poets illuminate our oppressive 2021.
Research Interests:
This is to confirm that Jytte Holmqvist actively participated in The 9th European Conference on Arts & Humanities (ECAH2021) by performing the duties of a a member of the Review Committee and thereby contributing to the academic success... more
This is to confirm that Jytte Holmqvist actively participated in The 9th European Conference on Arts & Humanities (ECAH2021) by performing the duties of a a member of the Review Committee and thereby contributing to the academic success of the event.
Research Interests:
This is to confirm that Jytte Holmqvist actively participated in The 9th European Conference on Arts & Humanities (ECAH2021) by performing the duties of a a member of the Review Committee and thereby contributing to the academic success... more
This is to confirm that Jytte Holmqvist actively participated in The 9th European Conference on Arts & Humanities (ECAH2021) by performing the duties of a a member of the Review Committee and thereby contributing to the academic success of the event.
Research Interests:
Strength Through Poetry as We Regain Our Balance in the Cinematic COVID Aftermath Drawing on Seamus Heaney and his symbolic reference to a great sea change or tidal wave in epic poem “The Cure at Troy” (1990) - much referred to in these... more
Strength Through Poetry as We Regain Our Balance
in the Cinematic COVID Aftermath
Drawing on Seamus Heaney and his symbolic reference to a great sea change or tidal wave in epic poem “The Cure at Troy” (1990) - much referred to in these pandemic times and indicating that a new chapter is about to begin - and "The City" by Ted Hughes, where a life is read like a poem and in the many depths of the urban space the writer roams "my own darkness" ̶ this paper looks at human resilience in the face of an interrupted COVID reality that has brought a fundamental shift to the way we view our surrounding world and our role in society. In our pandemic new era, the idea that “less is more” is quickly becoming a mantra for our times; a time characterised by a distancing from material hype and frantic face-to-face interaction for the sake of it. The current all-pervasive global attitudinal and behavioural change translates into a different way of relating to our surrounding urban space; one more cautious and reluctant than in pre-COVID times, and we also witness how reality and fiction merge – our first-world cinematic reality verging on Sci-Fi surreality. Under these unpredictable new conditions, following the exodus from the city centres is an internalising of our existence as we look within. As the virus still rages outside we turn to Netflix and other online streaming systems within the safety of our own homes and escape into another, parallel, reality. This paper demonstrates, partly through a filmic analysis, how fiction and our New Normal roll into one and how two contemporary poets (English and Irish) illuminate our oppressive 2021.
in the Cinematic COVID Aftermath
Drawing on Seamus Heaney and his symbolic reference to a great sea change or tidal wave in epic poem “The Cure at Troy” (1990) - much referred to in these pandemic times and indicating that a new chapter is about to begin - and "The City" by Ted Hughes, where a life is read like a poem and in the many depths of the urban space the writer roams "my own darkness" ̶ this paper looks at human resilience in the face of an interrupted COVID reality that has brought a fundamental shift to the way we view our surrounding world and our role in society. In our pandemic new era, the idea that “less is more” is quickly becoming a mantra for our times; a time characterised by a distancing from material hype and frantic face-to-face interaction for the sake of it. The current all-pervasive global attitudinal and behavioural change translates into a different way of relating to our surrounding urban space; one more cautious and reluctant than in pre-COVID times, and we also witness how reality and fiction merge – our first-world cinematic reality verging on Sci-Fi surreality. Under these unpredictable new conditions, following the exodus from the city centres is an internalising of our existence as we look within. As the virus still rages outside we turn to Netflix and other online streaming systems within the safety of our own homes and escape into another, parallel, reality. This paper demonstrates, partly through a filmic analysis, how fiction and our New Normal roll into one and how two contemporary poets (English and Irish) illuminate our oppressive 2021.
Research Interests:
This is to confirm that Jytte Holmqvist actively participated in The 8th European Conference on Media, Communication & Film (EuroMedia2021) by performing the duties of a a member of the Review Committee and thereby contributing to the... more
This is to confirm that Jytte Holmqvist actively participated in The 8th European Conference on Media, Communication & Film (EuroMedia2021) by performing the duties of a a member of the Review Committee and thereby contributing to the academic success of the event.
Research Interests:
This is to confirm that Jytte Holmqvist actively participated in The 9th European Conference on Arts & Humanities (ECAH2021) by performing the duties of a a member of the Review Committee and thereby contributing to the academic success... more
This is to confirm that Jytte Holmqvist actively participated in The 9th European Conference on Arts & Humanities (ECAH2021) by performing the duties of a a member of the Review Committee and thereby contributing to the academic success of the event.
Research Interests:
This is to confirm that Jytte Holmqvist actively participated in The 8th European Conference on Media, Communication & Film (EuroMedia2021) by performing the duties of a a member of the Review Committee and thereby contributing to the... more
This is to confirm that Jytte Holmqvist actively participated in The 8th European Conference on Media, Communication & Film (EuroMedia2021) by performing the duties of a a member of the Review Committee and thereby contributing to the academic success of the event.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This presentation examines the role of memory among members of first-generation Chilean emigrants to Australia and Melbourne; more specifically looking at how they adapt to Australian society while they still remain anchored to their home... more
This presentation examines the role of memory among members of first-generation Chilean emigrants to Australia and Melbourne; more specifically looking at how they adapt to Australian society while they still remain anchored to their home country in soul and spirit. The analysis will be inserted into a memory studies framework, with Ricoeurian theories primarily drawn from. His reflections on nostalgia, memory and belonging are readily applicable to our focus on citizens who fled their country under difficult circumstances, carrying with them wounds that needed healing. And yet, they eventually managed to carve a new space for themselves in a territory far away from their homeland, where they embarked on a new chapter that would leave them forever changed while at the same time they were able to connect with their Chilean motherland in a different way.
Research Interests:
This presentation examines the role of memory among members of first-generation Chilean emigrants to Australia and Melbourne; more specifically looking at how they adapt to Australian society while they still remain anchored to their home... more
This presentation examines the role of memory among members of first-generation Chilean emigrants to Australia and Melbourne; more specifically looking at how they adapt to Australian society while they still remain anchored to their home country in soul and spirit. The analysis will be inserted into a memory studies framework, with Ricoeurian theories primarily drawn from. His reflections on nostalgia, memory and belonging are readily applicable to our focus on citizens who fled their country under difficult circumstances, carrying with them wounds that needed healing. And yet, they eventually managed to carve a new space for themselves in a territory far away from their homeland, where they embarked on a new chapter that would leave them forever changed while at the same time they were able to connect with their Chilean motherland in a different way.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Seventeenth International Conference on Technology, Knowledge, and Society - conference hosted by University of Melbourne 7-9 April 2021
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
We live in global times where, at once, we enable the world to grow closer and become more unified, and are still separated through our ingrained fear of The Other; of movements and people different from ourselves. The current COVID-19... more
We live in global times where, at once, we enable the world to grow closer and become more unified, and are still separated through our ingrained fear of The Other; of movements and people different from ourselves. The current COVID-19 pandemic forces us to open our eyes to the potential and capacity of citizens of nations other than our own. In dire times this disconcerting new era has taught us to welcome a new world order. It highlights the need to think outside the box, welcoming different views and perspectives that, ultimately, prove beneficial to the collective ̶ across the board. In honour of Fellini on the 100th anniversary of his birth, this paper makes a sweeping comparison between our diverse society today and the bold and absurdist cinema of the post-neorealist filmmaker. Contextualising his cinema within an auteurist framework, we highlight how ground-breaking Fellini was in embracing the unconventional throughout his repertoire and argue that by analysing his films psychosocially we learn more about the world we live in, then and now, and learn to accept differences at a time when we must consider a range of types and individuals forces to be reckoned with. With films that stir, seduce and impress viewers worldwide, Fellini defied cinematic traditions and experimented with overlapping narrative styles. His films open our eyes to a new way of thinking and present us a world that steps away from the norm ̶ just like we now face a normality that is anything but normal.
Research Interests:
Fellini in Memoriam – Auteurship and Absurdism as Keys to Understand a 2020’s Society Where Normality is Anything but Normal We live in global times where, at once, we enable the world to grow closer and become more unified, and are... more
Fellini in Memoriam – Auteurship and Absurdism as Keys to Understand a 2020’s Society Where Normality is Anything but Normal
We live in global times where, at once, we enable the world to grow closer and become more unified, and are still separated through our ingrained fear of The Other; of movements and people different from ourselves. The current COVID-19 pandemic forces us to open our eyes to the potential and capacity of citizens of nations other than our own. In dire times this disconcerting new era has taught us to welcome a new world order. It highlights the need to think outside the box, welcoming different views and perspectives that, ultimately, prove beneficial to the collective ̶ across the board. In honour of Fellini on the 100th anniversary of his birth, this paper makes a sweeping comparison between our diverse society today and the bold and absurdist cinema of the post-neorealist filmmaker. Contextualising his cinema within an auteurist framework, we highlight how ground-breaking Fellini was in embracing the unconventional throughout his repertoire and argue that by analysing his films psychosocially we learn more about the world we live in, then and now, and learn to accept differences at a time when we must consider a range of types and individuals forces to be reckoned with. With films that stir, seduce and impress viewers worldwide, Fellini defied cinematic traditions and experimented with overlapping narrative styles. His films open our eyes to a new way of thinking and present us a world that steps away from the norm ̶ just like we now face a normality that is anything but normal.
We live in global times where, at once, we enable the world to grow closer and become more unified, and are still separated through our ingrained fear of The Other; of movements and people different from ourselves. The current COVID-19 pandemic forces us to open our eyes to the potential and capacity of citizens of nations other than our own. In dire times this disconcerting new era has taught us to welcome a new world order. It highlights the need to think outside the box, welcoming different views and perspectives that, ultimately, prove beneficial to the collective ̶ across the board. In honour of Fellini on the 100th anniversary of his birth, this paper makes a sweeping comparison between our diverse society today and the bold and absurdist cinema of the post-neorealist filmmaker. Contextualising his cinema within an auteurist framework, we highlight how ground-breaking Fellini was in embracing the unconventional throughout his repertoire and argue that by analysing his films psychosocially we learn more about the world we live in, then and now, and learn to accept differences at a time when we must consider a range of types and individuals forces to be reckoned with. With films that stir, seduce and impress viewers worldwide, Fellini defied cinematic traditions and experimented with overlapping narrative styles. His films open our eyes to a new way of thinking and present us a world that steps away from the norm ̶ just like we now face a normality that is anything but normal.
Research Interests:
Drawing from Bauman, Butler, and queer theories that “challenge Western heteronormativity and the binary gender conception, exploring the probabilities of there being more than the normative sexualities and gender identities”, this paper... more
Drawing from Bauman, Butler, and queer theories that “challenge Western heteronormativity and the binary gender conception, exploring the probabilities of there being more than the normative sexualities and gender identities”, this paper analyses the cinema of openly gay filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar and argues that his tolerant approach to characters not restricted by normative gender dichotomies and who are, rather, fluid in terms of sexual and gender identity – likewise encourages audience members belonging to the LGBTI community, including lesbians and other minority groups, to engage more fully with the drama played out on screen and to adopt a participatory approach to the unconventional characters on screen; sympathising with their ordeals and sharing in their joys and many passions in equal measure. A filmmaker who refuses to engage in gender politics and who has declared that there is “not a political posture or position on their part or on my part. I am only talking about characters that are alive and who form a part of my films in the same way that they form a part of society", indirectly engages in politics by embracing lesbian, gay and, transgender characters in his cinema, always stepping away from stereotypes and opening our eyes to a whole range of alternatives ̶ particularly highlighting and paying tribute to the female. In Almodóvar’s colourful universe, characters are multifaceted, highly emotional, charming and intelligent but also erratic, torn and traumatised and, more often than not, they operate in the margins of the mainstream in the sense of not being classifiable as belonging to one set identity.
Rather, norms and conventions are challenged and overthrown and the lines between male/female are blurred. Also, the more liberated the characters the more they interact almost organically with the equally liberated and “liquid” or fluid urban space – a space which, just like the characters, is fluid and constructed all at once. The acceptance of a constructed gender and the focus on women in all shapes and forms in the cinema of Almodóvar, makes for a success story with female audiences. Hence why this bold and ground-breaking, globally celebrated filmmaker has gained relevance across the gender and sexual spectrum and deserves our continued attention.
Conference: Audience Lost: Minority Women and Spectatorship
Ghent University, 22-23 November 2019
Rather, norms and conventions are challenged and overthrown and the lines between male/female are blurred. Also, the more liberated the characters the more they interact almost organically with the equally liberated and “liquid” or fluid urban space – a space which, just like the characters, is fluid and constructed all at once. The acceptance of a constructed gender and the focus on women in all shapes and forms in the cinema of Almodóvar, makes for a success story with female audiences. Hence why this bold and ground-breaking, globally celebrated filmmaker has gained relevance across the gender and sexual spectrum and deserves our continued attention.
Conference: Audience Lost: Minority Women and Spectatorship
Ghent University, 22-23 November 2019
Research Interests:
Pesentation certificate:
IAFOR The Asian Conference on Media, Communication & Film (MediAsia2019). Tokyo, Japan: Toshi Center 25-27 Oct. 2019
IAFOR The Asian Conference on Media, Communication & Film (MediAsia2019). Tokyo, Japan: Toshi Center 25-27 Oct. 2019
Research Interests:
Regionalism, and Latin American Cinema as a Source of Hope, Renewal and Inspiration Anna Karin Jytte Holmqvist, Hebei University-UCLan, China We have entered a 21st century where people, rather than uniting across borders and daring to... more
Regionalism, and Latin American Cinema as a Source of Hope, Renewal and Inspiration
Anna Karin Jytte Holmqvist, Hebei University-UCLan, China
We have entered a 21st century where people, rather than uniting across borders and daring to feel an affinity with the other ̶ bridging ethnic and national differences ̶ are now increasingly vulnerable, exposed to fragmenting movements often set in motion by leaders driven by egocentric values and self-interests pursued at the expense of the well-being of minorities and those occupying a lower level in the social hierarchy. While regionalism, nationalism and authoritarianism appear to be rising divisive movements triggered by such destabilising sociopolitical trends, within regionalism we can find examples of positive collaborations. Such is the case with Latin America today; a region which demonstrates a people coming together in a spirit of solidarity and creativity. Regionalism can in this case be inwardly advantageous. In a world characterised by personal disengagement and apathy, Latin America along with its indigenous communities uphold national values in a spirit of mutual comprehension on a communal level. Throughout history, these nations have been subjected to totalitarian regimes and hostile policies that disrupt societal structures. As a result, Latin American communities have developed resilience and a sense of hope deeply embedded in regional values. Its rich and diverse cinema reflects nations that despite all their uncertainties, differences, struggles and discontents have been showing the way forward. Drawing on Zygmunt Bauman, Kwame Anthony Appiah, and Richard A. Falk, this proposal explores Latin American cinema within a regional framework, looking at regionalism as a model for collective cooperation in the midst of a highly volatile world.
Anna Karin Jytte Holmqvist, Hebei University-UCLan, China
We have entered a 21st century where people, rather than uniting across borders and daring to feel an affinity with the other ̶ bridging ethnic and national differences ̶ are now increasingly vulnerable, exposed to fragmenting movements often set in motion by leaders driven by egocentric values and self-interests pursued at the expense of the well-being of minorities and those occupying a lower level in the social hierarchy. While regionalism, nationalism and authoritarianism appear to be rising divisive movements triggered by such destabilising sociopolitical trends, within regionalism we can find examples of positive collaborations. Such is the case with Latin America today; a region which demonstrates a people coming together in a spirit of solidarity and creativity. Regionalism can in this case be inwardly advantageous. In a world characterised by personal disengagement and apathy, Latin America along with its indigenous communities uphold national values in a spirit of mutual comprehension on a communal level. Throughout history, these nations have been subjected to totalitarian regimes and hostile policies that disrupt societal structures. As a result, Latin American communities have developed resilience and a sense of hope deeply embedded in regional values. Its rich and diverse cinema reflects nations that despite all their uncertainties, differences, struggles and discontents have been showing the way forward. Drawing on Zygmunt Bauman, Kwame Anthony Appiah, and Richard A. Falk, this proposal explores Latin American cinema within a regional framework, looking at regionalism as a model for collective cooperation in the midst of a highly volatile world.
Research Interests:
The European Conference on Media, Communication & Film (EuroMedia2019) Brighton Waterfront Hotel, Brighton, UK | July 12-13, 2019. Organised by The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) in association with the IAFOR Research Centre at... more
The European Conference on Media, Communication & Film (EuroMedia2019)
Brighton Waterfront Hotel, Brighton, UK | July 12-13, 2019.
Organised by The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) in association with the IAFOR Research Centre at Osaka University and IAFOR’s Global University Partners.
Brighton Waterfront Hotel, Brighton, UK | July 12-13, 2019.
Organised by The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) in association with the IAFOR Research Centre at Osaka University and IAFOR’s Global University Partners.
Research Interests:
Title: "Regionalism, and Latin American Cinema as a Source of Hope, Renewal and Inspiration" We have entered a 21st century where people, rather than uniting across borders and daring to feel an affinity with the other ̶ bridging ethnic... more
Title: "Regionalism, and Latin American Cinema as a Source of Hope, Renewal and Inspiration"
We have entered a 21st century where people, rather than uniting across borders and daring to feel an affinity with the other ̶ bridging ethnic and national differences ̶ are now increasingly vulnerable, exposed to fragmenting movements often set in motion by leaders driven by egocentric values and self-interests pursued at the expense of the well-being of minorities and those occupying a lower level in the social hierarchy. While regionalism, nationalism and authoritarianism appear to be rising divisive movements triggered by such destabilising sociopolitical trends, within regionalism we can find examples of positive collaborations. Such is the case with Latin America today; a region which demonstrates a people coming together in a spirit of solidarity and creativity. Regionalism can in this case be inwardly advantageous. In a world characterised by personal disengagement and apathy, Latin America along with its indigenous communities uphold national values in a spirit of mutual comprehension on a communal level. Throughout history, these nations have been subjected to totalitarian regimes and hostile policies that disrupt societal structures. As a result, Latin American communities have developed resilience and a sense of hope deeply embedded in regional values. Its rich and diverse cinema reflects nations that despite all their uncertainties, differences, struggles and discontents have been showing the way forward. Drawing on Zygmunt Bauman, Kwame Anthony Appiah, and Richard A. Falk, this proposal explores Latin American cinema within a regional framework, looking at regionalism as a model for collective cooperation in the midst of a highly volatile world.
We have entered a 21st century where people, rather than uniting across borders and daring to feel an affinity with the other ̶ bridging ethnic and national differences ̶ are now increasingly vulnerable, exposed to fragmenting movements often set in motion by leaders driven by egocentric values and self-interests pursued at the expense of the well-being of minorities and those occupying a lower level in the social hierarchy. While regionalism, nationalism and authoritarianism appear to be rising divisive movements triggered by such destabilising sociopolitical trends, within regionalism we can find examples of positive collaborations. Such is the case with Latin America today; a region which demonstrates a people coming together in a spirit of solidarity and creativity. Regionalism can in this case be inwardly advantageous. In a world characterised by personal disengagement and apathy, Latin America along with its indigenous communities uphold national values in a spirit of mutual comprehension on a communal level. Throughout history, these nations have been subjected to totalitarian regimes and hostile policies that disrupt societal structures. As a result, Latin American communities have developed resilience and a sense of hope deeply embedded in regional values. Its rich and diverse cinema reflects nations that despite all their uncertainties, differences, struggles and discontents have been showing the way forward. Drawing on Zygmunt Bauman, Kwame Anthony Appiah, and Richard A. Falk, this proposal explores Latin American cinema within a regional framework, looking at regionalism as a model for collective cooperation in the midst of a highly volatile world.
Research Interests:
According to Zygmunt Bauman, we live in a world of hunting and hunters where instead of lingering in the present and appreciating it for what it holds, we push into the future at an ever-increasing speed unable to seize the day and live... more
According to Zygmunt Bauman, we live in a world of hunting and hunters where instead of lingering in the present and appreciating it for what it holds, we push into the future at an ever-increasing speed unable to seize the day and live the moment. In being too concerned with maintaining a state of flux we lose sight of the utopia that we may partly be living in - at least in a western world generally spared from first-hand warfare and where citizens enjoy technological and scientific advancements and breakthroughs. In Bauman’s words written in 2005 but holding true to this day we, rather naively, “dream time and again of a world with no accidents”. Fearlessly we live through the day while we already anticipate the next. In doing so we not only disregard the importance of the present but also that of the past, seemingly forgetting about it altogether. On a national level this is a hunter’s “utopia” where “[w]e are all hunters” involved in an individual postmodern hunt into an uncertain future. Bauman questions whether in the name of game-keeping globalization - utopia potentially being synonymous with ‘fictional’, ‘chimerical’, ‘air-built’, ‘unrealistic’, or ‘irrational’ - we have come to the end of utopia as we know it? Are we now “witnessing the end of utopia?”. Fast-forward to 2017 and now embarking on a shaky journey into 2018 we face a world in disarray and fragmentation. This paper applies Bauman’s lucid thoughts to an analysis of the unpredictable present.
Research Interests:
"This is to confirm that Anna Karin Jytte Holmqvist actively participated in The IAFOR International Conference on the City 2018 (CITY2018) by performing the duties of a member of the Review Committee and thereby contributing to the... more
"This is to confirm that Anna Karin Jytte Holmqvist actively participated in The IAFOR International Conference on the City 2018 (CITY2018) by performing the duties of a member of the Review Committee and thereby contributing to the academic success of the event."
Research Interests:
"This is to confirm that Anna Karin Jytte Holmqvist actively participated in the European Conference on Media, Communication & Film 2018 (EuroMedia2018) by performing the duties of a member of the Review Committee and thereby contributing... more
"This is to confirm that Anna Karin Jytte Holmqvist actively participated in the European Conference on Media, Communication & Film 2018 (EuroMedia2018) by performing the duties of a member of the Review Committee and thereby contributing to the academic success of the event."
Research Interests:
According to Bauman, we live in a world of hunting and hunters where instead of lingering in the present and appreciating it for what it holds, we push into the future at an ever-increasing speed unable to seize the day and live the... more
According to Bauman, we live in a world of hunting and hunters where instead of lingering in the present and appreciating it for what it holds, we push into the future at an ever-increasing speed unable to seize the day and live the moment. When too concerned with maintaining a state of flux we lose sight of the utopia that we may partly be living in - at least in a western world generally spared from first-hand warfare, where citizens enjoy technological and scientific advancements and breakthroughs. In Bauman’s words written in 2005 but holding true to this day we, rather naively, “dream time and again of a world with no accidents”. Fearlessly we live through the day while we already anticipate the next. In doing so we not only disregard the importance of the present but also that of the past, seemingly forgetting about it altogether. On a national level this is a hunter’s “utopia” where “[w]e are all hunters" engaged in an individual postmodern hunt into an uncertain future. Bauman questions whether in the name of game-keeping globalization - utopia potentially being synonymous with ‘fictional’, ‘chimerical’, ‘air-built’, ‘unrealistic’, or ‘irrational’ - we have come to the end of utopia as we know it? Are we “witnessing the end of utopia?”. Fast-forward to 2017 and now embarking on a shaky journey into 2018 we face a world in disarray and fragmentation. This paper applies Bauman’s lucid thoughts to an analysis of the unpredictable present.
Research Interests:
Attached Review Certificate: Art Center, Kobe, Japan. October 27-29, 2017
Research Interests:
This presentation highlights the postmodern elements in "Barcelona (un mapa)." In focus is the screened representation of a sophisticated Barcelona portrayed against the backdrop of a transformative post-Olympic era, and Pons' tendency... more
This presentation highlights the postmodern elements in "Barcelona (un mapa)." In focus is the screened representation of a sophisticated Barcelona portrayed against the backdrop of a transformative post-Olympic era, and Pons' tendency to steer away from urban gloss. Rather, he highlights the dystopic elements of his native city. The film portrays the darker aspects of urban change in dialogues where ambivalent characters reject the Catalan capital rather than praise it and take pride in their urban existence.
Also analysed is the representation of Barcelona as a place that can be mapped and spatially explored and the use of the photo effect to connect the pre-democratic past with the global present. Based on Cunillé’s screenplay "Barcelona, mapa d’ombres", the film becomes "Barcelona, Map of Shadows" in English. The title reflects shadows from the past that linger in a visual narrative mainly steeped in the present. 1990s postmodernity is reflected in pastiche elements and a collage-like structure, where a cinematic montage challenges chronological time patterns. The storyline criss-crosses between past and present through flashbacks from times gone by and an opening scene featuring black and white footage from the moment Franco forces entered Barcelona in 1939. The viewer is then swiftly transported into a colour-tinged present. This non-linear narrative structure underscores the film’s postmodernity, as does the episodic plot containing lengthy dialogues that cover a range of topics. Rather than on external action, Pons explores complex character relationships and the relationship between these characters and their increasingly postmodern habitat.
Also analysed is the representation of Barcelona as a place that can be mapped and spatially explored and the use of the photo effect to connect the pre-democratic past with the global present. Based on Cunillé’s screenplay "Barcelona, mapa d’ombres", the film becomes "Barcelona, Map of Shadows" in English. The title reflects shadows from the past that linger in a visual narrative mainly steeped in the present. 1990s postmodernity is reflected in pastiche elements and a collage-like structure, where a cinematic montage challenges chronological time patterns. The storyline criss-crosses between past and present through flashbacks from times gone by and an opening scene featuring black and white footage from the moment Franco forces entered Barcelona in 1939. The viewer is then swiftly transported into a colour-tinged present. This non-linear narrative structure underscores the film’s postmodernity, as does the episodic plot containing lengthy dialogues that cover a range of topics. Rather than on external action, Pons explores complex character relationships and the relationship between these characters and their increasingly postmodern habitat.
Research Interests:
Emeritus Professor Zygmunt Bauman wrote tirelessly on the ever changing world that we live in, lucidly analysing our contemporary times in an intelligent and insightful manner in both oral and written discourses where the topics ranged... more
Emeritus Professor Zygmunt Bauman wrote tirelessly on the ever changing world that we live in, lucidly analysing our contemporary times in an intelligent and insightful manner in both oral and written discourses where the topics ranged from Holocaust reflections, modernity and postmodernity, urban and social liquidity and mobility, and utopia and dystopia, to mention but a few. In his astute observations Bauman paints an often sombre and depressing picture of society and the role we play in it. Writing at length on modernity and postmodernity (the latter dependent on the former for its existence), the Polish sociologist who was impressively prolific during his lengthy career at the University of Leeds presents us with a world in flux, one in which citizens likened to hunters lead an increasingly solitary and rootless existence in the name of individualism while all along they seemingly push faster and increasingly desperately into an uncertain future. These members, or denizens, of the postmodern habitat are in Bauman’s accounts leading an ambivalent existence in an apparent utopia that is far from as utopic as one would have hoped for. This paper will discuss Bauman’s views on modernity and postmodernity, ultimately highlighting the importance of Bauman’s works and the great legacy he has now left behind after passing away earlier this year.
Research Interests:
This presentation explores the complex relationship between contrasting British and Aboriginal cultures within the rural context of Victoria, with reference to the narrated cultural landscape in Joan Lindsay's "Picnic at Hanging Rock"... more
This presentation explores the complex relationship between contrasting British and Aboriginal cultures within the rural context of Victoria, with reference to the narrated cultural landscape in Joan Lindsay's "Picnic at Hanging Rock" (1967) and its corresponding screened semi-mythical landscape in Peter Weir's 1975 film based on the original book. In the analysis of the first scenes of the film, the focus is on the notion of scenic and human beauty at once arresting and foreboding, and the various contrasting and parallel spaces that characterise the structure of both film and book. The presentation highlights the tension between old and new, spiritual and polytheistic, and a more monotheistic Christian culture. Through an analysis of main characters, the discussion will demonstrate how individuals can reflect a certain culture and cultural idiosyncrasies at large, where deep-going cultural differences seem to be not so much impossible to overcome, as not sought to eradicate - the outcome being that the British culture as it is represented in Weir's film does, against all odds, not dominate the colonised Victorian locality, the college and its residents, as have to surrender to the larger, less readily categorised culture of Aboriginal Australia. Reader and viewer undergo a learning experience and what seems to be real as well as safe notions to hang on to, do not necessarily constitute the only reality to believe in, nor are we necessarily who we think we are – "what we see or what we seem are but a dream, a dream within a dream."
I am a research scholar, freelance translator and university tutor with a keen interest in Film, Cultural and Screen Studies and a doctoral degree in Screen and Media Culture, awarded from the University of Melbourne in 2015. I find different cultures and languages fascinating and engaging and consider myself very fortunate to be living in multicultural Australia.
InASA Human and Aboriginal Rights Conference: "'Re-imagining Australia': Encounter, Recognition, Responsibility." 7-9 December in Fremantle, Australia.
URL: http://inasa.org/blog/re-imagining-australia-encounter-recognition-responsibility-7-9-december-2016-fremantle-western-australia/
I am a research scholar, freelance translator and university tutor with a keen interest in Film, Cultural and Screen Studies and a doctoral degree in Screen and Media Culture, awarded from the University of Melbourne in 2015. I find different cultures and languages fascinating and engaging and consider myself very fortunate to be living in multicultural Australia.
InASA Human and Aboriginal Rights Conference: "'Re-imagining Australia': Encounter, Recognition, Responsibility." 7-9 December in Fremantle, Australia.
URL: http://inasa.org/blog/re-imagining-australia-encounter-recognition-responsibility-7-9-december-2016-fremantle-western-australia/
Research Interests:
This Oxford University conference paper focused on the postmodern elements in Pons’ film "Barcelona (un mapa)" (2007). Abstract: "Of interest is the tolerant relationship between a Catalan husband and wife and the fluid gender notions... more
This Oxford University conference paper focused on the postmodern elements in Pons’ film "Barcelona (un mapa)" (2007). Abstract: "Of interest is the tolerant relationship between a Catalan husband and wife and the fluid gender notions adhered to by the former; a man who repeatedly engages in gender performativity within the safety of his own home and who, by refraining from doing so in a public external space, could be considered sexually inhibited as he may feel hindered in his freedom to express himself in now democratic Spain; conscious of the social stigma that he may attract were he to embrace his dual identity.
The project additionally explores the representation of Barcelona as a capital that can be mapped and spatially explored and the use of the cinematic photo effect as a way to connect the pre-democratic past with the global present.
'Barcelona (un mapa)' is based on Lluïsa Cunillé’s 2004 screenplay 'Barcelona, mapa d’ombres.' Translated into English as "Barcelona, Map of Shadows", the shadows from the past indeed linger in a visual narrative mainly steeped in the present. The film’s postmodernity is reflected in its pastiche elements and collage-like structure, with a cinematic montage challenging a conventionally chronological time pattern. Specifically, the story-line criss-crosses between past and present by way of regular flashbacks from times gone by and an opening scene featuring black and white footage of the decisive moment when Franco forces invaded Barcelona in 1939. The viewer is then swiftly transported into a colour-tinged present. Such a non-linear narrative structure underscores the postmodernity of Pons’ film, as does the episodic plot containing lengthy and highly theatrical dialogues between two characters at a time. Rather than on external action, Pons’ explores the complex relationships between not only his protagonists but also between these characters and their increasingly postmodern urban habitat.
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/probing-the-boundaries/persons/the-patient/conference-programme-abstracs-and-papers/
The project additionally explores the representation of Barcelona as a capital that can be mapped and spatially explored and the use of the cinematic photo effect as a way to connect the pre-democratic past with the global present.
'Barcelona (un mapa)' is based on Lluïsa Cunillé’s 2004 screenplay 'Barcelona, mapa d’ombres.' Translated into English as "Barcelona, Map of Shadows", the shadows from the past indeed linger in a visual narrative mainly steeped in the present. The film’s postmodernity is reflected in its pastiche elements and collage-like structure, with a cinematic montage challenging a conventionally chronological time pattern. Specifically, the story-line criss-crosses between past and present by way of regular flashbacks from times gone by and an opening scene featuring black and white footage of the decisive moment when Franco forces invaded Barcelona in 1939. The viewer is then swiftly transported into a colour-tinged present. Such a non-linear narrative structure underscores the postmodernity of Pons’ film, as does the episodic plot containing lengthy and highly theatrical dialogues between two characters at a time. Rather than on external action, Pons’ explores the complex relationships between not only his protagonists but also between these characters and their increasingly postmodern urban habitat.
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/probing-the-boundaries/persons/the-patient/conference-programme-abstracs-and-papers/