Dramaturgy: The State-Socialist Mode of Production

k 2011

Dramaturgy: The State-Socialist Mode of Production

SZCZEPANIK, Petr

Basic information

Original name

Dramaturgy: The State-Socialist Mode of Production

Authors

SZCZEPANIK, Petr (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution)

Edition

The Screen Industries In East-Central Europe. An International Conference, 2011

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Prezentace na konferencích

Field of Study

Art, architecture, cultural heritage

Country of publisher

Czech Republic

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14210/11:00050602

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

Keywords (in Czech)

dramaturgy; film production; Socialism; East-Cwentral Europe

Keywords in English

dramaturgie; filmová výroba; socialismus; střední a východní Evropa

Abstract

V originále

To start comparative research of East-Central European film industries, we need, among others, to define the state-socialist mode of production, its systemic variations and socio-cultural expressions. But there is no methodology specifically developed to do so. Thus, we can draw on Janet Staiger’s work on Classical Hollywood Cinema, still the most fundamental model to analyze film production, and try to ask the same set of questions and identify significant differences. I propose to supplement the Staiger’s approach with a socio-cultural perspective, inspired by John Caldwell’s concept of production culture, and ask not just how films were made, but also who made them, what did it mean to be a filmmaker – the question which seems to be of high importance in countries where so-called cadres (orig. professional revolutionaries) was a keyword and political screening a key instrument for human resource management. I suggest to start with 2 sets of interrelated issues that would help us understand what dramaturgy was and what systemic role did dramaturgical and production units play. First, I propose political-economic analysis of the paradoxical role of sp-called production, creative and dramaturgical units and of dramaturgy in the state-socialist modes of production: Why all the centralized systems established some kind of units and how they attempted to use them to better control both ideological and economic risks? How come that the semi-independent units not only made the system more efficient, but also allowed for limited creative freedom that brought new, unprecedented risks to the system? Why certain systems favoured dramaturgical units, while the other ones creative or even production units? The second step of such a research program would be a socio-cultural analysis of so-called “production cultures” that developed in and around the units – to study how creativity as collaborative action operates within restrictive system of state-owned studios.

Links

GAP409/10/1361, research and development project

Name: Historie ateliérů na Barrandově z hlediska organizace a kultury filmové výroby

Investor: Czech Science Foundation, History of Barrandov Studios in Terms of Organization and Culture of Film Production

Citovat

SZCZEPANIK, Petr. Dramaturgy: The State-Socialist Mode of Production. In The Screen Industries In East-Central Europe. An International Conference. 2011.

@proceedings{975741,
   author = {Szczepanik, Petr},
   booktitle = {The Screen Industries In East-Central Europe. An International Conference},
   keywords = {dramaturgie; filmová výroba; socialismus; střední a východní Evropa},
   language = {eng},
   title = {Dramaturgy: The State-Socialist Mode of Production},
   year = {2011}
}

TY  - CONF
ID  - 975741
AU  - Szczepanik, Petr
PY  - 2011
TI  - Dramaturgy: The State-Socialist Mode of Production
KW  - dramaturgie
KW  - filmová výroba
KW  - socialismus
KW  - střední a východní Evropa
N2  - To start comparative research of East-Central European film industries, we need, among others, to define the state-socialist mode of production, its systemic variations and socio-cultural expressions. But there is no methodology specifically developed to do so. Thus, we can draw on Janet Staiger’s work on Classical Hollywood Cinema, still the most fundamental model to analyze film production, and try to ask the same set of questions and identify significant differences. I propose to supplement the Staiger’s approach with a socio-cultural perspective, inspired by John Caldwell’s concept of production culture, and ask not just how films were made, but also who made them, what did it mean to be a filmmaker – the question which seems to be of high importance in countries where so-called cadres (orig. professional revolutionaries) was a keyword and political screening a key instrument for human resource management. I suggest to start with 2 sets of interrelated issues that would help us understand what dramaturgy was and what systemic role did dramaturgical and production units play. First, I propose political-economic analysis of the paradoxical role of sp-called production, creative and dramaturgical units and of dramaturgy in the state-socialist modes of production: Why all the centralized systems established some kind of units and how they attempted to use them to better control both ideological and economic risks? How come that the semi-independent units not only made the system more efficient, but also allowed for limited creative freedom that brought new, unprecedented risks to the system? Why certain systems favoured dramaturgical units, while the other ones creative or even production units? The second step of such a research program would be a socio-cultural analysis of so-called “production cultures” that developed in and around the units – to study how creativity as collaborative action operates within restrictive system of state-owned studios.
ER  -

SZCZEPANIK, Petr. Dramaturgy: The State-Socialist Mode of Production. In \textit{The Screen Industries In East-Central Europe. An International Conference}. 2011.

Detailed Information on Publication Record