PT Journal
AU Shmidt, V
TI When National Female Bildungsroman Meets Global Fantasies about Nazis. Historical Roots and Current Troubles in Lida Baarova
SO Iluminace
PY 2019
BP 61
EP 78
VL 31
IS 4
DI 10.58193/ilu.1644
WP https://iluminace.cz/en/artkey/ilu-201904-0004.php
DE post-socialist cinema; meta-cinematic farce; female bildungsroman; intertextuality; semantic/syntactic/pragmatic approach
SN 0862397X
AB This text explores Lida Baarova (2016) by Filip Renc, a film that exceeds the limits of storytelling practices shaping views on female emancipation. Altman's semantic/syntactic/pragmatic approach to the genre frames the deconstruction of the film as an example of non-random cannibalization of narrative strategies and cultural codes. Introducing Renc's filmography sheds light on a specific set of intertexts for contextualizing Lida Baarova as mixing meta-cinematic farce and female bildungsroman. Examining Lida Baarova in the context of European meta-cinematic farce about female representatives of mass culture in fascist regimes aims to recognize the pathway of musealizing the totalitarian past. The comparison of Lida Baarova with Lili Marleen (1981), Marlene (2000) and especially La nina de tus ojos (1998) reveals the contest between multi-layered visual matches of Lida Baarova with these films and consistent deconstruction of the meta-cinematic farce in favor of reintroducing the binary distinction between us/them. Seeing Lida Baarova embedded in the formation of female bildungsroman directly addresses the role of the our/their dichotomy in building the Czech nation. Comparing From Subway with Love (2004) and Lida Baarova points to the intertextuality that interprets Lida Baarova as exaggerating the core of the master coming-of-age narrative. By juxtaposing meta-cinematic farce and bildungsroman, Lida Baarova determines the deconstruction of both units of cultural information and limited spectatorial pleasure from pedagogical emotions. Deconstructing Lida Baarova as a film crossing the borders between national and international narratives restores particular options for reengagement with sensitive issues of the post-socialist production and consumption of films.
ER