Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EDEF (Enunciative Devices of the European Francophone Essay Film)
Reporting period: 2020-09-01 to 2022-08-31
This project accomplishes an innovative and challenging analysis of the enunciative devices of the European Francophone essay film –from a semiotic-pragmatic approach and through an interdisciplinary and intermedial study from its first materialisations in modern cinema to the very present– in order to determine the audiovisual procedures that embody the expression of subjectivity, the thinking process and self-reflexiveness, which define this stimulating filmic form. Starting from the concept of Francophonie, and through an innovative interdisciplinary and intermedial approach that relates cinema to philosophy, semiotics to aesthetics and cinema history to cultural and gender studies, the research establishes firstly a typology of the different enunciative devices: audiovisual materials, intermedial forms and filmic procedures. Secondly, the research analyses the relationship between these and the themes addressed by the essay films and the artistic movements they belong to, from its birth in modern cinema to the very present, where this essayistic practice has known a great proliferation due to the digital revolution. Thirdly, the research determines the functionality of the different enunciative devices, exploring how identity –individual, social, political, gender, artistic– thinks through cinema, and how European Francophone culture has thought itself in the past and thinks itself in the present. The project includes the gender dimension by analysing if there is a gendered subjectivity in women’s authorship and its possible specificities. The research also studies the representation of the woman in the essay film and the possible presence of a gender bias. Finally, the project, considering the essay film as a social, political and artistic developer that fosters critical thinking by both the spectator and society, also analyses the function of the spectator in this dialogic filmic form. Thus, the research contributes concretely to European excellence in Film Studies and to the creation of a common, current and widespread European culture.
OBJECTIVES
1) To establish a typology of the different enunciative devices of this audiovisual form, describing their functionalities to generate subjective audiovisual thinking.
2) To analyse the functionality of each enunciative device of the essay film regarding the artistic movements to which the work belongs and the topics discussed.
3) To analyse the functionality of each enunciative device regarding the spectator’s reception.
4) To analyse the evolution of the different enunciative devices at all these different levels and to present the final conclusions of the research.
OBJECTIVES
1) To establish a typology of the different enunciative devices of this audiovisual form, describing their functionalities to generate subjective audiovisual thinking.
2) To analyse the functionality of each enunciative device of the essay film regarding the artistic movements to which the work belongs and the topics discussed.
3) To analyse the functionality of each enunciative device regarding the spectator’s reception.
4) To analyse the evolution of the different enunciative devices at all these different levels and to present the final conclusions of the research.
Dr Lourdes Monterrubio Ibáñez has conducted research under the supervision of Professor José Moure within the Institut ACTE, Paris 1 University Panthéon-Sorbonne from 2020 to 2022. During the fellowship, the researcher has worked through four scientific work packages outlined in the initial project proposal:
1) Typology. - To establish the typology: a) the audio-visual materials used; b) the filmic procedures; c) the intermedial forms. - To describe the functions of each enunciative device in the generation of subjective cinematic thinking.
2) Artistic movements and topics. To analyse the functionality of each enunciative device of the essay film regarding: a) the artistic movements they belong to; b) the topics discussed by the essay films.
3) Spectator’s reception. To analyse the functionality of each enunciative device regarding the spectator’s reception: a) the spectator’s role inside the essay film; b) the spectator’s critical thinking considering the role of the essay film as a social, political, cultural, gender equality and artistic developer that fosters this critical thinking.
4) Evolution and conclusions. - To study of the evolution of the different enunciative devices of the essay film. – To draw the conclusions of the research.
PUBLICATIONS AND DISSEMINATION
• Publication of an open-access monograph (in preparation) at Amsterdam
University Press.
• Publication of four journal articles:
- “Jean-Luc Godard’s diptychs. Rethinking Cinema through the Essay Film.” Quarterly Review of Film and Video 2021.
- “Sans soleil by Chris Marker. The Essay Film and its Cinematic Thinking Process: Reflecting on Postmodernity.” Studies in European Cinema, 2022.
- “The Spectator’s Position as a Thinking Space for the Contemporary Essay Film: Face aux fantômes (2009) and Jaurès (2012).” Comparative Cinema 10(18), 2022, pp. 53-75.
- “Women’s Essay Films in Francophone Europe: Exploring the female audiovisual thinking process” (currently under peer review).
• Edition of a monographic issue:
The Audiovisual Thinking Process in Contemporary Essay Films. Comparative Cinema 10(18), 2022.
• Organisation of an international conference:
The Essay Film as Critical Thinking. Institut ACTE – Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. 09th-10th June 2022.
• Participation in four international conferences:
- EuroMedia2021. The UCL Institute of Education. 22nd-24th July 2021.
- From the Scenic Essay to the Essay-Exhibition. Expanding the Essay Form in Arts. Ghent University. 27th-29th April 2022.
- The Essay Film as Critical Thinking. Institut ACTE. Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne. 9th-10th June 2022.
- NECS 2022: Epistemic Media: Atlas, Archive, Network. European Network for Cinema and Media Studies. Bucharest. 22th-26th June 2022.
• Delivery of three invited lectures
• Organisation of and participation in a joint webinar
1) Typology. - To establish the typology: a) the audio-visual materials used; b) the filmic procedures; c) the intermedial forms. - To describe the functions of each enunciative device in the generation of subjective cinematic thinking.
2) Artistic movements and topics. To analyse the functionality of each enunciative device of the essay film regarding: a) the artistic movements they belong to; b) the topics discussed by the essay films.
3) Spectator’s reception. To analyse the functionality of each enunciative device regarding the spectator’s reception: a) the spectator’s role inside the essay film; b) the spectator’s critical thinking considering the role of the essay film as a social, political, cultural, gender equality and artistic developer that fosters this critical thinking.
4) Evolution and conclusions. - To study of the evolution of the different enunciative devices of the essay film. – To draw the conclusions of the research.
PUBLICATIONS AND DISSEMINATION
• Publication of an open-access monograph (in preparation) at Amsterdam
University Press.
• Publication of four journal articles:
- “Jean-Luc Godard’s diptychs. Rethinking Cinema through the Essay Film.” Quarterly Review of Film and Video 2021.
- “Sans soleil by Chris Marker. The Essay Film and its Cinematic Thinking Process: Reflecting on Postmodernity.” Studies in European Cinema, 2022.
- “The Spectator’s Position as a Thinking Space for the Contemporary Essay Film: Face aux fantômes (2009) and Jaurès (2012).” Comparative Cinema 10(18), 2022, pp. 53-75.
- “Women’s Essay Films in Francophone Europe: Exploring the female audiovisual thinking process” (currently under peer review).
• Edition of a monographic issue:
The Audiovisual Thinking Process in Contemporary Essay Films. Comparative Cinema 10(18), 2022.
• Organisation of an international conference:
The Essay Film as Critical Thinking. Institut ACTE – Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. 09th-10th June 2022.
• Participation in four international conferences:
- EuroMedia2021. The UCL Institute of Education. 22nd-24th July 2021.
- From the Scenic Essay to the Essay-Exhibition. Expanding the Essay Form in Arts. Ghent University. 27th-29th April 2022.
- The Essay Film as Critical Thinking. Institut ACTE. Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne. 9th-10th June 2022.
- NECS 2022: Epistemic Media: Atlas, Archive, Network. European Network for Cinema and Media Studies. Bucharest. 22th-26th June 2022.
• Delivery of three invited lectures
• Organisation of and participation in a joint webinar
The progress beyond the state-of-the-art achieved by the project can be summarized through its main results:
- The project offers an unprecedented typology of the enunciative devices from which the essay film and its thinking process are generated, allowing us to understand their semiotic-pragmatic functioning: letter, diptych, (self)portrait, diary, travelogue, autobiography, autofiction, the spectator’s position, etc.
- The research analyses the functionality of the different enunciative devices concerning the topics discussed and the artistic movements to which the works belong.
- The project investigates the dialogical nature of the essay film and the spectator`s role in it, to understand how it develops critical thinking and the relevance of intersubjectivity in this process.
- The research studies the essay films directed by women and determines the specificities of their work and its evolution.
- The research describes the evolution of the European Francophone essay film from modern cinema to the very present, through its enunciative devices.
The project is expected to achieve a high scientific impact in Film Studies, creating a new state-of-the-art and offering high-quality new knowledge regarding the enunciative devices of the essay film. The open-access dissemination of the project’s results will foster the broader diffusion of knowledge, opening up new avenues for future interdisciplinary research on the essay film. The project’s results will attract Film and Media Studies experts to this research area, strengthening human capital in research and innovation. The research also seeks to have a high societal impact by providing the general public with an understanding of the essay film as an audiovisual thinking process and as a tool for critical thinking by both the spectator and society, thus enhancing our shared European Culture and reinforcing the uptake of research and innovation in society.
- The project offers an unprecedented typology of the enunciative devices from which the essay film and its thinking process are generated, allowing us to understand their semiotic-pragmatic functioning: letter, diptych, (self)portrait, diary, travelogue, autobiography, autofiction, the spectator’s position, etc.
- The research analyses the functionality of the different enunciative devices concerning the topics discussed and the artistic movements to which the works belong.
- The project investigates the dialogical nature of the essay film and the spectator`s role in it, to understand how it develops critical thinking and the relevance of intersubjectivity in this process.
- The research studies the essay films directed by women and determines the specificities of their work and its evolution.
- The research describes the evolution of the European Francophone essay film from modern cinema to the very present, through its enunciative devices.
The project is expected to achieve a high scientific impact in Film Studies, creating a new state-of-the-art and offering high-quality new knowledge regarding the enunciative devices of the essay film. The open-access dissemination of the project’s results will foster the broader diffusion of knowledge, opening up new avenues for future interdisciplinary research on the essay film. The project’s results will attract Film and Media Studies experts to this research area, strengthening human capital in research and innovation. The research also seeks to have a high societal impact by providing the general public with an understanding of the essay film as an audiovisual thinking process and as a tool for critical thinking by both the spectator and society, thus enhancing our shared European Culture and reinforcing the uptake of research and innovation in society.