Κατεύθυνση Πολιτισμικές και Κινηματογραφικές Σπουδές
Library of the Faculties of Political Science and Public Administration, Communication and Mass Media Studies, Turkish and Modern Asian Studies, Sociology

2018-06-11

2018

Martsakis Vasileios

Ευαγγελία Διαμαντοπούλου, Λέκτορας, Τμήμα Επικοινωνία και Μέσων Μαζικής Ενημέρωσης, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Μυρτώ Ρήγου, Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Επικοινωνία και Μέσων Μαζικής Ενημέρωσης, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Έλλη Φιλοκύπρου, Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Επικοινωνία και Μέσων Μαζικής Ενημέρωσης, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών

Η δολοφονία του Μαρά: Από το πλαίσιο της ιστορίας, στο κάδρο της ζωγραφικής και του κινηματογράφου

Greek

The murder of Mara: From the context of history, to the frame of painting and cinema

In this paper we examine how the historical event of the murder of Mara was depicted and represented in painting and cinema respectively, in order to examine how a historical event, which is open to contradictory interpretations, functions when it comes out of the historical context and falls within the framework of art. Seven paintings and scenes from five films are being examined, with emphasis on David's painting The murder of Mara and the corresponding scene in Gance’s film Napoleon. Those artworks are dealt within their historical context (the French Revolution, the history of France and sporadic general european history). As the basic theoretical tools we use the following views: a) Burke’s on how the images are used in history, b) Derrida’s on “parergon” c) Arnheim’s on visual thinking d) Friedberg’s on the virtual window, e) Benjamin’s on artistic work as a result of engineering reproduction, and f) Dalle Vacche's studies on the relationship between painting and cinema.

We conclude that the historical fact of the murder of Mara, as it comes out of the historical context and falls within the framework of art, remains open to conflicting interpretative artistic achievements. Thus, there are works that unconditionally justify Mara, others who condemn him and others which maintain an intermediate moderate attitude.
The most common feature we identify using Derrida’s views on “parergon” is that the frame can operate as a limit and as a boundary, both within the artistic field and between the artistic field and reality.
We note that the influence of the David’s painting is extremely important, in most of the paintings in question, as well as in the films showing the murder. Indeed, some of the artistic elements of this painting stand out from the interpretation of the represented historical event and are used in the films, both in the case of a corresponding interpretation and the opposite.
We conclude that the extraordinary popularity of the subject of Mara's murder in the arts, seems to be due to a combination of three main reasons: a) the intense theatricality of murdering a public figure in a particularly private area such as the bathroom b) the unusual reversal of the male offender and woman victim stereotype, c) David's painting, which contributed to the dissemination of the event in art, but also to the historical memory.
Finally, we conclude that while the artworks in question function as a historical testimony for their time, all of them can contribute to the formation of the historical memory of the event (depending on their dissemination of course).

Social, Political and Economic sciences

painting, cinema, frame, history, French Revolution, Marat, David, Gance

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https://pergamos.lib.uoa.gr/uoa/dl/object/2768156