From an Exotic Postcard to a Non-place: Images of the City in Spanish Cinema
Joanna Aleksandrowicz
joannaleksandrowicz@gmail.comUniversity of Silesia (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5095-7706
Abstract
The article charts the changes in the depiction of the city in Spanish cinema, focusing on the tension between what is iconic of a given place and the exploration of spaces far removed from tourist clichés. An analysis of contemporary films is set against a historical background. It includes the beginnings of the stereotyping of urban areas in the silent cinema era, the ideological use of landscape during the dictatorships of General Primo de Rivera and General Franco, and the pursuit of realism as a counter to the dominant model of representation. Contemporary reinterpretations of old pictorial conventions, new urban icons and their associated patterns of representation, as well as the phenomenon of non-places, which is an expression of rebellion against exoticization but also stems from a desire to find a setting appropriate to the social issues raised, are all considered in these contexts. The presented approach stands out from previous research by focusing on the representative character of space and by aiming for a historical synthesis.
Keywords:
Spanish cinema, city in film, stereotyping of space, non-place, ideologization of landscapeReferences
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Authors
Joanna Aleksandrowiczjoannaleksandrowicz@gmail.com
University of Silesia Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5095-7706
Assistant Professor in the Institute of Culture Studies, University of Silesia in Katowice. Her research includes Spanish cinema and culture, relationships between film and painting, as well as Asian cinema. Author of the monographs Pomiędzy obrazem a wskazówkami zegarów. O estetyce nietrwałości w filmach Wong Kar-waia [Between the Image and the Clock Hands: The Aesthetics of Impermanence in the Films of Wong Kar-wai] (2008), Pomiędzy płótnem a ekranem. Inspiracje twórczością Goi w kinie hiszpańskim [Between the Canvas and the Screen: The Influence of Goya’s Works in Spanish Cinema] (2012), and Obrazy Andaluzji w kinie hiszpańskim (1910–2021) [Depictions of Andalusia in Spanish Cinema (1910-2021)] (2021).
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Copyright (c) 2023 Joanna Aleksandrowicz
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