Ideology and spectacle in contemporary Croatian literature and film

Disertacija na primjeru hrvatske književne i filmske produkcije u postjugoslavenskom razdoblju propituje neka od općih mjesta suvremene teorijske misli. Iskustvo neposredne zbilje u proteklih trideset godina pokazalo nam je slabu validnost i primjenjivost brojnih općeprihvaćenih postmodernističkih teorijskih koncepata. U trenutku kada se već odavno govorilo o nestanku velikih „metapriča“ (Lyotard), „kraju povijesti“ (Fukuyama), „ratovima koji se nisu dogodili“ (Baudrillard), jugoslavenska se kultura suočila s destrukcijom i instrumentalizacijom čije posljedice i danas osjećamo. Upravo je kultura filter kroz koji sagledavamo i tumačimo stvarnost, a ovaj rad kao svoj cilj uzima prikaz njezinih promjena u razdoblju od stjecanja nominalne samostalnosti Republike Hrvatske pa sve do danas. Disertacija nudi tumačenje kako smo u navedenom razdoblju posredstvom romana i filma tvorili priče o sebi. Rad se ne bavi samo pitanjem kako su se priče sastavljale, već nastoji odgovoriti i na pitanje kako su one djelovale te čemu su služile. U fokusu rada je razmatranje ideologije i spektakla kao središnjih točaka provedena istraživanja. Disertacija pokazuje da smo u proteklih trideset godina svjedočili procesu metamorfoze uprizorenja kulture od dominantno ideološki obojenih diskurzivnih praksi u javnome prostoru (tijekom 1990-ih) do onog uprizorenja koje egzistira unutar medijatiziranog spektakla te kojemu je upravo produkcija spektakla primarna svrha (od početka 2000-ih). Također, istraživanje je pokazalo da je domaća kulturna scena od nekadašnjih etatističkih kriterija u kulturnoj proizvodnji ustoličila nove kriterije, ekonomske, čime se potvrdila istinitost tvrdnje prema kojoj se ideologija demokracije otkriva kao „diktatorska sloboda tržišta“ (Debord). Interesni korpus rada obuhvaća djela nastala tijekom 1990-ih koja su obrađivala ratna zbivanja, djela koja su stvarali pisci okupljeni oko FAK-a na početku dvijetisućitih te ona koja nastaju u razdoblju nakon njegova gašenja. U istom vremenskom odsječku interes je usmjeren i na filmsku proizvodnju, pretežito igranu, ali rad se također dotiče i nekoliko dokumentarističkih ostvarenja. Analitički fokus posvećuje se i paraliterarnim fenomenima kao što su književne skupine, nagrade te legitimacijske strategije za pozicioniranje pojedinih aktera unutar kulturnog polja. Rad počiva na komparativnom proučavanju odnosa hrvatske književnosti i filma te nudi sliku narativne artikulacije identitetskih pitanja u hrvatskom društvu. U disertaciji se poseže za metodologijom povijesnog dokumentiranja građe te za suvremenim metodama interpretacije (konstrukcionistički i dekonstrukcionistički pristup).The dissertation on the example of Croatian literary and film production in the post-Yugoslav period questions some of the general points of contemporary theoretical thought. The experience of immediate reality over the past thirty years has shown us the weak validity and applicability of several generally accepted postmodernist theoretical concepts. At a time when there has long been talked of the disappearance of the great „metanarratives“ (Lyotard), „the end of history“ (Fukuyama) and „wars that did not take place“ (Baudrillard), Yugoslav culture faced destruction and instrumentalization whose consequences we still feel today. Specifically, culture is the filter through which we perceive and interpret reality, and this thesis aims to present its changes in the period from the acquisition of nominal independence of the Republic of Croatia until today. The dissertation offers an interpretation of how we created stories about ourselves in the mentioned period through novels and films. It not only deals with the question of how the stories were composed but also seeks to answer the question of how they operated and what they served. The focus of the thesis is on the consideration of ideology and spectacle as central points of the conducted research. It shows that in the past thirty years we have witnessed a process of metamorphosis of staging culture from predominantly ideologically marked discursive practices in public space (during the 1990s) to staging that exists within a mediated spectacle and for which spectacle production is the primary purpose (since the early 2000s). Furthermore, the research shows that the domestic cultural scene has established new economic criteria from the former statist criteria in cultural production, which truthfully confirms the claim that the ideology of democracy is revealed as „the dictatorial freedom of the market“ (Debord). The interest corpus of this thesis includes works created during the 1990s that dealt with the war theme, works created by writers gathered around the FAK in the early 2000s, and those created in the period after its disappearance. In the same period, interest is focused on film production also, mostly fiction, but it nevertheless addresses several documentary achievements. The analytical focus includes para-literary phenomena as well, such as literary groups, awards and legitimation strategies for positioning certain participants in the cultural field. The thesis is based on a comparative study of the relationship between Croatian literature and film and offers depicting of a narrative articulation of identity issues in Croatian society. It reaches out to the methodology of historical documentation of material and modern methods of interpretation (constructionist and deconstructionist approach). In the introductory part of the thesis, the theoretical and contextual framework of the research is established and the goals and hypotheses of further analysis are defined, as well as numerous sub-analyzes that will be offered in the following text. The mapped context refers to domestic literary and film production from the independence of the Republic of Croatia until today, and the goal is directed towards the narrative articulation of themes (war, nationalism, transition) in the post-Yugoslav society and especially those elements in the observed cultural complex that contributed to the identity representation in a new political and economic context. An overview of previous research related to the topic (for example B. Buden, D. Duda, N. Gilić, M. Kolanović, H. Turković, etc.) is offered, and the theoretical framework of thinking is indicated as well (T. Eagleton, J. Lyotard, D. Kellner, etc.). It is pointed out that in the early phase of the observed period Croatian society was marked by a state of war, the implementation of democracy and the acceptance of the capitalist system. Attention is also drawn to the formative factors which influenced not only the cultural production of that period but also reflected the shaping of the cultural sphere in the further course of Croatian contemporary cultural history. In this context, the analysis is focused on the process of metamorphosis of cultural performance in public space which was developed from the nucleus of distinct ideological character, characteristic of the period during the 1990s, and led to increasing spectacularization of the cultural field, noticeable since the early 2000s. This metamorphosis is also connected with the establishment of a new economic reality shaped by the newly adopted principles of market economy, which will expose Croatian cultural production to „dictatorial freedom of the market“ (Debord) and will reflect on the establishment of the new value criteria in perceiving cultural products. The central part of the dissertation opens with a chapter entitled Narrative of the Social Text. It discusses the mechanisms of constituting political ideologies and problematizes the question of the role of culture in the process of designing the idea of tradition and nation of a particular community. The reflections of B. Anderson, J. Assmann, S. Malešević, E. Said and R. Williams, which are applied in the analysis of the presentation of Croatian identity from the acquisition of independence to the present day, are of great importance for the presented conclusions. The next chapter of the dissertation brings into focus this period, which was largely characterised by the transition process. In this most comprehensive part of the discussion, transition issues are considered from different perspectives. From the causal point of view, the political transition is observed, then the economic transition, and finally the cultural transition to which most space is dedicated. In the context of the analysis of cultural transition, the process of restructuring cultural values in society is monitored based on previously analyzed political and economic processes. Emphasis is placed on the consequences of political and economic changes on the cultural scene. This is elaborated in subchapters whose titles summarize thematic and problem focus of cultural processes: Redefining Cultural Identities, Introducing New Technologies into Cultural Creation, Openness of Cultural Communication and Mediation of Cultural Values, Placement of Cultural Products and Values on the Market and Cultural Industrialization. In the chapter Cultural Field as a Field of Struggle, the presented theoretical observations are summarized and are applied to the comparative reading of various examples from Croatian literature and cinematography. This section presents conclusions on the repositioning of individual writers and groups (M. Krleža, M. Budak, Croatian Writers’ Association, Croatian Writers Society) in the context of transitional culture, and the formative role of literary and film festivals (FAK, Pula Film Festival, Motovun Film Festival) within the domestic cultural field is discussed. The chapter Spectacle of Public Space is divided into three subchapters: Spectacle of Politics, Spectacle of Culture and Spectacle of Criticism. The very notion of spectacle is used as interpreted by Guy Debord – as a form of annulment of historical knowledge. In the Croatian cultural field numerous confirmations are found for Debord's observations on the representations as sets of selected images and the notions generated from them, that finally emerge as substitutes for real social life. Referring to the disintegration of the SFRY, it is concluded that in the early 1990s Croatia entered the „post-communist process of transformation“ and, like many other post-communist countries, was struck by the phenomena of culturalization and depoliticization. At that historical moment, culture became a key element for creating new identities and at the same time a means of political positioning of its participants, as well as the Republic of Croatia itself in relation to its history and Europe, to which, after the transition process, Croatia strives to unite by joining the European Union. Furthermore, the unsatisfactory effects of the described political instrumentalization of culture are analytically demonstrated, and the example of a part of the literary scene (FAK) points to the side effects of such an approach, ie. attempts to defend – increasingly represented since the early 2000s – from such processes and repercussions of the all mentioned onto the status of literary criticism itself. The latter topic is addressed by relying on authors such as A. Compagnon, U. Eco, S. Petrović, M. Solar and others. The chapter War by Book, War by Film discusses the treatment of literary texts in school textbooks (N. Veličković) and the possibilities of coding and decoding (S. Hall) of new texts within the discourse of school textbooks (P. Lucić). These insights are also applied in the review of film examples, drawing attention to the possibilities and limitations of propagating certain values through national cinemas (Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian). The offered comparative insights are based on a rich selection of films (Vrijeme za... / Time for..., Oja Kodar, 1993; Cijena života / Price of Life, Bogdan Žižić, 1994; Četverored / Four Lines, Jakov Sedlar, 1999; Ničija zemlja / No Man's Land, Danis Tanović, 2001; Svjedoci / Witnesses, Vinko Brešan, 2003; Grbavica / Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams, Jasmila Žbanić, 2006; Zvizdan / The High Sun, Dalibor Matanić, 2015; General, Antun Vrdoljak, 2019; Quo vadis, Aida?, Jasmila Žbanić, 2020...). This chapter discusses the rhetorical possibilities of documentary film in addition to a feature film. The conclusion of the dissertation is to underline the key, previously elaborated findings presented in the paper