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The monument and the sewer: memory and death in Wajda’s Kanal (1957)

The monument and the sewer: memory and death in Wajda’s Kanal (1957)

Mroz, Matilda (2014) The monument and the sewer: memory and death in Wajda’s Kanal (1957). Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 34 (4). pp. 528-545. ISSN 0143-9685 (Print), 1465-3451 (Online) (doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2014.903035)

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Abstract

Andrzej Wajda’s Kanał/Kanal (1957) was expected by many audience members finally to portray the ‘true’ history of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, a history that had been distorted by Poland’s Communist government. This article argues that the virtual sphere of cinema could enact particular commemorative practices, partly founded upon constructing the viewer as a witness to authentic events. My analysis of the film’s internal conflicts partly draws upon the film’s original reception in the Polish press, focusing upon the vocabularies and discourses that were available to writers attempting to describe Kanal’s status as monument, its privileging of truth and witnessing, as well as its visceral force, and its refusal of closure and consolation.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: [1] Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television is the journal of The International Association for Media and History.
Uncontrolled Keywords: trauma, memory, mourning, Polish cinema, Wajda Memorial
Subjects: N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR
T Technology > TR Photography
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group: Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences > School of Humanities & Social Sciences (HSS)
Last Modified: 31 Jul 2017 11:38
URI: http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/9504

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