Realist Narrative Research Articles

Frameless cinema: Proposed scale of narrative involvement in virtual reality

<p>The possibility of recording in 360° has aroused the interest of entrepreneurs and researchers in the potential narrative powers of virtual reality in different fields. However, there are still some questions that have not been sufficiently confirmed, such as the higher level of narrative involvement of the viewer in this new form of storytelling. In order to make up for this lack, this research presents the design of an experimental analysis in different phases. It is a quantitative-qualitative pilot project based on the MNEQ scale<sup>[1]</sup> that allows us to evaluate and compare the viewing experience of a narrative story through virtual reality presentation and different types of two-dimensional screens to a minimum of 100 people divided into experimental groups. Under the assumption that each treatment or each technology (independent variable) has different impacts on the viewer’s narrative involvement (dependent variable), the aim is to analyze empathy (EP), sympathy (S), cognitive perspective taking (CP), loss of time (LT), loss of self-awareness (LS), narrative presence (NP), narrative involvement (NI), distraction (D), ease of cognitive access (EC) and narrative realism (NR). Four different types of analysis (statistical, variance, observational, open-ended) are included. We offer a new model of self-developed analysis for complete Spanish-language cinematic virtual reality works. The experimental design seeks to establish a comprehensive research model in order to discuss whether virtual reality offers, as it is believed, greater engagement.</p>

Frameless cinema: Proposed scale of narrative involvement in virtual reality

<p>The possibility of recording in 360° has aroused the interest of entrepreneurs and researchers in the potential narrative powers of virtual reality in different fields. However, there are still some questions that have not been sufficiently confirmed, such as the higher level of narrative involvement of the viewer in this new form of storytelling. In order to make up for this lack, this research presents the design of an experimental analysis in different phases. It is a quantitative-qualitative pilot project based on the MNEQ scale<sup>[1]</sup> that allows us to evaluate and compare the viewing experience of a narrative story through virtual reality presentation and different types of two-dimensional screens to a minimum of 100 people divided into experimental groups. Under the assumption that each treatment or each technology (independent variable) has different impacts on the viewer’s narrative involvement (dependent variable), the aim is to analyze empathy (EP), sympathy (S), cognitive perspective taking (CP), loss of time (LT), loss of self-awareness (LS), narrative presence (NP), narrative involvement (NI), distraction (D), ease of cognitive access (EC) and narrative realism (NR). Four different types of analysis (statistical, variance, observational, open-ended) are included. We offer a new model of self-developed analysis for complete Spanish-language cinematic virtual reality works. The experimental design seeks to establish a comprehensive research model in order to discuss whether virtual reality offers, as it is believed, greater engagement.</p>

“Give Books a Chance, Even the Really Weird and Bizarre Ones”

This article uses a contemporary literature class titled Alternatives to Realism that the author taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as the basis to argue for the special value of experimental, speculative, and otherwise antirealistic literature for introductory-level undergraduate literature pedagogy. The author argues that, rather than choosing realistic narratives that students are likely to understand and relate to on first pass, professors should deliberately seek out works students are likely to initially find confusing or strange and then endeavor to help them understand those texts. The article suggests that the difficulty associated with such texts, rather than intimidating students, actually invites them to engage with the reading process more actively and enthusiastically. The article discusses the premise and overall structure of the class and the rationale behind it; delves into specific examples of discussions and assignments based on such texts as Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves and Martin Amis’s Time’s Arrow; and examines students’ own ultimate responses to the class as presented in their final exam reflection essays. Ultimately, the author argues that teaching (seemingly) difficult, idiosyncratic literary works helps students appreciate the unique intellectual work of reading, strengthens their self-confidence, and leads them to a keener appreciation of the humanities more broadly.

Переходы в романе «Промежуточные станции» Владимира Вертлиба

Автор романа «Промежуточные станции»[1] – австрийский писатель Владимир Вертлиб, родом из российских евреев. В своем описании эмиграции русско-еврейской семьи Вертлиб опирается на личный опыт. Лирический герой романа – молодой человек, единственный сын в семье – повествует о различных “промежуточных станциях” в жизни своей семьи и о своих собственных поисках идентичности. Реалистическое повествование Вертлиба, достигая временного завершения на уровне сюжета, структурировано таким образом, чтобы, сопоставляя голоса, времена и места, исследовать целый ряд современных проблем. Эти проблемы касаются эмиграции, памяти, европейской истории XX века и воспоминаний о Третьем Рейхе, еврейской идентичности и еврейской диаспоры. Взяв за отправную точку описанные Вертлибом состояния эмигранта, статья рассматривает историю, рассказанную в романе «Промежуточные станции», как символическое достижение транскультурного состояния par excellence. Согласно концепции транскультуры Майкла Эпштейна, это состояние можно описать как состояние внешней и не-принадлежности, которое является предпосылкой творческой свободы, парадигматически передаваемой решением главного героя по-настоящему посвятить себя писательскому труду.
 
 [1] Прим. переводчика: роман Владимира Вертлиба “Zwischenstationen” опубликован на русском языке издательством Симпозиум (2009) под названием «Остановки в пути», перевод с немецкого В. Н. Ахтырской. Я придерживаюсь своей версии перевода названия. Элина Саракаева.

Challenging Narrative Realities: Antoine Volodine

This paper argues that the work of Antoine Volodine and his heteronyms (Manuela Draeger, Lutz Bassmann) interrogates genre and convention in an uncompromising way that moves significantly beyond the generic interrogation conducted by most contemporary writers. It suggests that one productive way to think about his work is to think about it not in terms of traditional genres at all, but through the kind of cross- and multi-genre tonal corpora that recently have cropped up as an alternative to genre, such as Ann and Jeff VanderMeer’s notion of the Weird. It goes on to think about the relationship Volodine’s work does or does not have to science fantasy, a defunct subfield of science fiction which on paper seems to have a great deal in common with his work. I discuss the parameters of Volodine’s work in relation to Gene Wolfe, Michael Moorcock, and Cordwainer Smith. I speak in particular about his deformation of place names, his creation of new genres that only he uses (the narrat, etc.), and the significance of the fascination of a defunct light switch in Lutz Bassmann’s Avec les Moines-Soldats, as a way of opening up a different sense of what Volodine’s work accomplishes.

Mythological, Historical and Personal: the Story of Creation of Mary Renault’s Dilogy “Theseus”

The article is devoted to the mythological, historical and personal aspects of the creation of the Theseus dilogy (“The King Must Die”, 1958; “The Bull from the Sea”, 1962) by the English author Mary Renault (1905-1983). The relevance of the study is due to the need to comprehend these mythocentric works, which are the result of the synthesis of various types of artistic mythologism. The study is based on the principles of comparative historical, biographical and historical-genetic methods of analysis of a work of art. The traditions of mythologism in the English literature of the twentieth century are analyzed. The following features are distinguished: the mythological tradition of the twentieth century reflects the pressing issues of our time; modern mythologism implies a change or destruction of the canon. It is stated that the principle of historicity of M. Renault novels is implemented on the basis of archaeological and anthropological works of her contemporaries. It is proved that two types of artistic mythologism are simultaneously used in dilogy: demythologization and remythologization. The authors argue that this approach makes mythogenesis possible within the framework of a realistic narrative. In addition, the question about the implementation of the author’s creative intention to attract public attention to the problems of same-sex relationships is raised.

Hacia un modelo de narrativa en periodismo inmersivo

Introducción: Ante el incremento de uso por parte de periodistas y medios de comunicación, de la realidad virtual y los contenidos inmersivos como formato para informar, nos hemos propuesto aportar un posible modelo de narrativa de realidad virtual para la producción de estos contenidos. Metodología: Se ha optado por un estudio mixto, donde lo cuantitativo está compuesto por encuestas realizadas a 60 individuos Generación Z españoles, al tiempo que dos grupos de discusión con 5-6 individuos de similar grupo etario. Asimismo, se consideró un análisis comparativo entre elementos de la narrativa inmersiva y la narrativa audiovisual tradicional, para alcanzar el fin deseado. Resultados y conclusiones: se evidencia la complejidad de la segmentación de audiencias en el ámbito digital, aunque los individuos pertenezcan al mismo entorno social. Los instrumentos de medición permitieron disponer de algunos elementos básicos para la creación de contenidos noticiosos en formatos multimedia con capacidad inmersiva, los cuales deben ir acompañados de un compromiso y constancia por parte de los medios de comunicación y periodistas implicados en procesos de innovación.

Magical Realism, the Oracular, Mysticism and Belief Legacy in Ahmed Saadawi’s Frankenstein in Baghdad

ABSTRACT In Frankenstein in Baghdad, Ahmed Saadawi chronicles the horrors of everyday life in Baghdad in the wake of the war and American invasion of Iraq in 2003. He weaves together actual reality and wild flights of imagination and in so doing, he fathoms out the extent of absurdity, cruelty and brutality in the violence-torn city. The present study argues that the novelist steeps his realistic narrative in the mystical, oracular and diverse cultural heritage of Mesopotamia and hence strikes a balance between a realistic view of life on the one hand and the marvelous/esoteric on the other. Saadawi brings into play the means offered by Magical Realism to place a horrific reality against phantasmal background in his semi-war narrative. The magical or marvelous operate on the levels of characters, setting as well as events, which have their counterparts in reality. The Frankenstein brought to existence by a nobody ends up typifying Christian creed in being a stray soul repulsed from hell and the Islamic in being a materialization of Satan. Further, the novel showcases the indulgence in witchcraft and clairvoyance as well as the nostalgia to the glamor of a wondrous golden past all at one go.

Precarious craft: a feminist commodity chain analysis

ABSTRACTIt is common in do-it-yourself (DIY), craft and craftivism circles to uncritically celebrate female-gendered labours. An almost-essential component of DIY-craft narratives in developed countries positions this work as resisting capitalism. Rather than dismissing these narratives as quintessentially neoliberal, which they are, this article argues that they offer important insights about the relationships between narrative, migration, precarity and feminised labour. The article takes up Priti Ramamurthy’s six elements of a feminist commodity chain analysis to situate craft workers in the United States and globally as members of the global precariat, while considering both their real lives and how they are imagined. I add to a growing body of theorists working to expand craft theory by arguing that crafting labours, and the narratives that characterize them, offer an important site to consider how migration, precarity and gendered labour are perceived. This article fills a gap in the literature of migration by examining how realist and fictional narratives of craft operate to reify and resist the institutionalized forms of oppression that intersect to produce precarity and migration. Ultimately, this article examines how craft narratives might more effectively foreground connections between craft workers worldwide and how that might shift perceptions of migration and precarity.

Наративні особливості телевізійної верстки новин (на матеріалі випусків 2013–2020 рр.)

The study clarifies the narrative features of the TV layout of Ukrainian TV channels in the period 2013-2020. The first stage of the study – 2015-2018, the initial expert survey – 35 interviews with graduates and editors-in-chief of Ukrainian TV channels. The second stage of the study – 2018-2020, rhetorical analysis of 80 news programs «Podrobyci» («Inter»), «TSN» («1+1»), «Sobytija», «Sjoghodni» («Ukrajina»), «Vikna» («STB»), «Fakty» («ICTV»), «Abzac» («Novyj»), «Novyny» («Pershyj»), «Pidsumky» («Era»), «Chas. Pidsumky dnja» («5 kanal»), «Novyny» («112-Ukrajina»). The third stage of the research is 2020, modeling of TV layout of Ukrainian TV channels, clarification of narrative principles, methods, techniques. Rhetorical analysis and modeling of TV layout were associated with the search for the collected data of the most important topics, compositional schemes, forms of TV stories, etc. (according to the theory of «agenda»). Based on the analysis of the collected and ordered empirical data, standardized approaches in the formation of news releases used by Ukrainian TV channels are revealed – narrative features of news releases as information constructs correlated with social reality. During the research the general scientific methods were also used: analysis and synthesis, comparison, classification: with their help the secondary and primary data were arranged and understood, the results and conclusions were formulated. It was found that the television industry is a sphere of socio-communicative action, a slice of social reality, through which texts are broadcast to the audience, encouraging them to internalize certain ideas, values, to believe in meanings. Because of this, news releases can be interpreted as editorial narratives – plot, dramatic, audiovisual stories about events that happened recently in the life of the country, of the world, of the people. News stories are compiled in accordance with editorial standards, adopted layout model, as well as with typical principles of selection and ranking of topics, ways of presenting information. This encourages us to talk about a special «narrative realism» – an approach in the reflection / construction of the picture of the day. Thus, adequate storytelling is a professional challenge for news channels and a promising research subject in the theory of social communications.

The Land of Story-Books. Scottish Children's Literature in the Long Nineteenth Century ed. by Sarah Dunnigan and Shu-Fang Lai

Reviewed by: The Land of Story-Books. Scottish Children's Literature in the Long Nineteenth Century ed. by Sarah Dunnigan and Shu-Fang Lai Devika Mehra THE LAND OF STORY-BOOKS. Scottish Children's Literature in the Long Nineteenth Century. Edited by Sarah Dunnigan and Shu-Fang Lai. Series: ASLS Occasional Papers, 23. Scottish Literature International, 2019, 445 pages. ISBN: 978-1-908980-29-8 This book gives a glimpse into a vast array of nineteenth-century Scottish children's literature, a literary world that Sarah Dunnigan in the introduction refers to as "in part recognisable, in part unknown" (x). It explores what one understood by children's literature, the child reader, and the culture of children's books in Scotland in the nineteenth century. Focusing on the power of Scottish children's narratives and different aspects of Scottish children's writing, it highlights the role of children's literature in shaping Scottish national identity (sociocultural, historical, linguistic, spatial, and gendered). The book, divided into six sections and twenty chapters, covers different genres such as chapbooks and periodicals, folktales and fairy tales, gothic-inspired short stories and domestic realist narratives, conduct books and adventure stories, nursery verses and folk songs, and oral and written narratives. It encompasses a wide range of thematic strands, including discussions on constructions of childhood (girlhood as well as boyhood); the child reader; the publishing industry and marketing; didactic and entertaining children's literature; women writers and children's literature; the child figure and issues related to memory, loss, and death; reimagining history; space and place; Celtic revival and linguistic identity; oral and folk traditions; and, finally, literary and cultural memory and children's archives. The significance of the book lies in its inclusion of diverse voices, especially women writers of children's literature (Catherine Sinclair, Margaret Oliphant, Jessie Saxby), in the analysis of lesser-known works (Mary Gordon's fiction, Dinah Mulock Craick's Alice Learmont, Chapbook culture, Scottish verse tradition, the Finn [Fionn] and Ulster cycles), and in researching popular authors (J. M. Barrie, George MacDonald) from new perspectives. For instance, Rhona Brown's essay on "Educating the Female Child" explores the concept of the unofficial debate and the role of periodicals in constructing the female subject and the idea of female education. Linda Claridge Middup's chapter addresses the issues of didactic elements, morality, and feminine empowerment within the domestic space. The use of location and language in the construction of national identity is reiterated in the essays on Celtic revival, George MacDonald, Jessie Saxby, and Violet Jacob (chapters 6, 13, and 18). Another key thrust is the book's discussions of the role of the publishing industry and the education market in the dissemination, branding, and promotion of Scottish children's literature as well as Scottish children's writers. Essays on Robert Chambers, Thomas Nelson & Sons, and Andrew Lang's Fairy Books give an insight into the influence of publishing houses in the marketing of children's books. Anne Marie Hagen's essay on Thomas Nelson & Sons exemplifies the role of Scottish publishers in developing a connection between education, religion, and children's literature. Finally, the [End Page 92] book's examination of children's culture and its influence on national identity (Adam Kozaczka's essay on toy soldiers and the last chapter, "Children's Books in the Archive") facilitates an understanding of the material culture of Scottish childhood. The book highlights how the space of childhood incites nostalgia, yet can be political and politicized (xxi). While the scope of the book is vast and diverse, in terms of writers, texts, and the period, the common strand is its preoccupation with an analysis and establishment of a distinct Scottish children's literature and Scottish national identity. An analysis of children's book illustrations and children's magazine or childhood writing culture (Christine Orr) would have further enhanced this work. However, the entire collection of essays is an important contribution to the study of Scottish children's literature and raises crucial questions that can be taken up for further research. It opens up new avenues for research and exploration in the field of early Scottish children's writings. Devika Mehra Lecturer, Department of...

Tatyana Tolstaya’s “Sleepwalker in a Fog” or “The Life is a Dream” in a Neobaroque manner

The proposed analysis of the oneiric elements in the early prose writing by Tatyana Tolstaya, most notably in the short story “Sleepwalker in a Fog”, attributes the highest heuristic value to the traditional Baroque metaphor “life is a dream”, and attempts to close read the text by using this premise as a focal point. The stated metaphor which, as an impor-tant vehicle for construction of narrative reality, is present only implic-itly in the text, contains two distinct semantic aspects. The fi rst can be defi ned as the claim that the protagonist observes objective reality as a dream, with disintegrated and lessened attention, passively and absent-mindedly, since he is completely absorbed in his inner life. What con-stitutes reality for him is the activity of his spiritual sphere whereas the real world looks completely unreal, as if he were dreaming about it. The metaphor “life is a dream” has, however, another meaning which can be defi ned as an observation that reality can sometimes have a dreamlike character. Hence, the protagonist is not necessarily submerged into his inner life but rather observes the external world with sharp and vigilant perception, and has a strong feeling that what surrounds him is not real, i.e. that the external reality is objectively like a dream. There is no doubt that the reality of the late socialism as described in the short story “Sleepwalker in a Fog” has a quality of a chaotic, oneiric chronotope in which events evolve incoherently, illogically, and in a dreamlike manner.

The Rise of Behavioral Economic Masculinity

AbstractThis essay begins a cultural history of the behavioral economic narrative mode in American popular media, in relation to the academic discipline but not coincident with it. From podcasts to Michael Lewis’s books and films, the behavioral economic mode of narration changes the character or figure of economic knowledge. Instead of the distant financial expert, this mode insists on the authority of the friendly explainer. In the years around the 2008 crisis, at a moment when financial scandals seemed to be losing their power to scandalize, this mode asserted behavioral economic knowledge as the new standard of realism. As the affective structures beneath earlier capitalist realist narratives diminished in power, the behavioral economic turn marked a reassertion of narrative authority. The behavioral mode instantiated a new relationship to a familiar misogyny and is perhaps best understood as a cultural shift with varied ideological commitments to economic philosophy itself. The behavioral economic mode is characterized by scenes of objectivity training or moments where the viewer or reader is trained to understand objectivity as a performance of distance from the subject’s gender or race. Not incidentally, this performance is demanded specifically of those who do not fit the neoclassical ideal of the rational agent and who are not white and not male.

WORD ORDER IN THE LANGUAGE OF MIHAILO LALIC (Neke osobitosti reda riječi u romanima Mihaila Lalića)

Word order in the language Mihailo Lalic in most cases correspond to the situation in our contemporary standard language. However, such examples, from the point lingvostylistics and correlational syntax have no special significance. On the other hand, examples of “deviation” from the norm are very important for understanding the unique stylistic expression of the writer, who uses the parenthesis, inversion of different types (anastrophe, hyastic structures) contributing to the originality of storytelling, liberated from the uniform and monotonous depiction of the narrative reality. Therefore, we can conclude, even in cases where the language of Mihailo Lalic approaches linguistic expression of the older writers linguistic epochs, that the largest number of recorded deviations contain extremely stylish character. These features, on the other hand, enrich Lalić’s oeuvre, resulting in very expressive and, therefore, stylematic structures, which are thought to be very important segment of a literary text, making it different and unique. The paper deals with schedule of syntactic units found in the language of Mihailo Lalic, on the corpus consisting of the following novels: The Wedding (1950 and 1973), Break-Up (1955 and 1969), The Wailing Mountain (1957 and 1983), The Fortunes of War (1973 and 1983) and Tamara (1992). Key words: Mihailo Lalic, word order, (un) marking, expressiveness

“Miraculous realism” in Zaitsev’s, Shmelev’s, Bunin’s prose (in context of magical realism, fantastic realism, mystical realism, spiritual realism, etc.)

There are many terms that denote the invasion of the inexplicable into a realistic narrative, such as: magical realism, fantastic realism, mystical realism, spiritual realism, transcendental realism, metaphysical realism, Christian realism, etc. The author suggests the term “miraculous realism” to describe the realistic works in which there are miraculous (means associated with the category of something unbelievable) event inserts are present. Such miracles lead to obvious violations of the laws of nature and do not fit into the “scientific picture of the world”. “Miraculous realism” in Bunin’s prose, in Zaitsev’s and Shmelev’s autobiographical works, considered in comparison to Chekhov’s materialistic method.

Russian historical novel in a new way: “Tobol” by Alexey Ivanov

The article aims to find out the deep artistic meanings of the novel by A. Ivanov “Tobol” to show the originality and significance of its structure, modifying in many ways the genre of the historical novel. This is evidenced by the author's tangible focus on the possible transformation of the novel into a form of cinema - accented visual imagery of the novel's components (landscapes, architectural sketches, paintings of everyday life) and, most importantly, the exciting drama in the development of the plot, in all its lines, with a powerful energy of actions and dialogues of the characters (the tragic conflict of the Siberian governor Gagarin and tsar Peter I, the clash of Remezov and Gagarin, the struggle of schismatics, the resistance of the Voguls in their conversion to Christianity, the war with the Dzungars). The article suggests that the Siberian reality of the Peter the Great era is considered by the writer from a very deep angle: Siberia, with its many national and socio-historical identities (pagans-Voguls, nomadsDzungars, Cossacks, etc.), with their inevitable struggle, is seen as the “key to Russia”, to understanding the complexity of its historical destiny. An important task is also to pay attention to the connection in the novel of the forms of realistic narrative with the magic of the wonderful, fantastic (in the images of the pagan view of the world of many characters), bringing together the work of A. Ivanov with modern magical realism in literature.

ProHealth or HealthCore: Teaching Students About Reality Creation in Organizational Life

This exercise introduces students to reality creation processes in organizational life (e.g., self-fulfilling prophecy, Pygmalion effects, etc.) as a theoretical perspective that must be understood to design transformational organizational change. By comparing the differential effects of conventional and appreciative questions, the experience also exposes students to their biases of reality creation. It illustrates how questions can be used to invite a shift from a conventional to an appreciative or positive narrative of reality. Students may also explore how inquiry may be used to inspire change in organizations.

Jak historia odkłada się w pamięci, jak pamięć odkłada się w języku

<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"> </p><p>Tematem artykułu jest zakreślenie ram pola badawczego tworzonego przez trzy tytułowe pojęcia: historia, pamięć, język. Ponieważ każde z nich jest wieloznaczne, a na dodatek w różnych sytuacjach odnoszone są do różnych porządków ontologicznych (do rzeczywistości pozajęzykowej i do rzeczywistości tekstowej, narracyjnej), autor stara się doprecyzować znaczenia odnośnych wyrazów i pokazać złożone relacje, jakie występują zarówno między poszczególnymi znaczeniami każdego z wyrazów oddzielnie (a więc pomiędzy „historią1” i „historią2” z jednej strony oraz między „pamięcią1” i „pamięcią2” – z drugiej), jak też, w układzie „horyzontalnym”, między „historią1” i „pamięcią1” oraz między „historią2” a „pamięcią2”. Autor uważa, że każdy z tych porządków rzeczy ma odrębną charakterystykę językową, istnieje jednak pięć cech, które między trzema konstruktami: „historią2” (tj. historiografią), „pamięcią2” (relacjonowaniem zawartości pamięci) i językowo-kulturowym obrazem świata stanowią wspólny mianownik; to podmiotowość, narracyjność, selektywność, interpretacyjność i ujęzykowienie. Ten wspólny mianownik pozwala na zestawianie i konfrontowanie z sobą zróżnicowanych obrazów tego samego wycinka przeszłości.</p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><br /></span></span></p>

A narrative of virtual and augmented reality in the forest sector

Abstract With the rapid development in data acquisition and presentation, there is a growing interest in virtual forests and computer visualization tools. Forest owners have become more aware about their property and are interested in applying different forest management methods and silvicultural techniques. The tools are also applicable in assessment of the changes to the landscape as a result of natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Virtual reality offers a good opportunity to test and compare different management options before implementing decisions which can lead to irreversible consequences. Advances in spatial and temporal data collection enable new and practical solutions for analysis and visualization of long-term natural processes with new forestry applications. In the near future, forest owners and managers will have the possibility to make management decisions without the direct need to exit the office. Furthermore, the learning process is more enthralling and also more profound through augmented reality, helping to foster better working practices even before starting a job in the forest sector.

Ontological Distances

This article explores two contemporary works (Kader Attia’s Open Your Eyes [2010] and Neïl Beloufa’s Kempinski [2011]), alongside Alain Resnais’s and Chris Marker’s 1953 classic short film Les statues meurent aussi (The Statues Also Die). The pieces belong to different contexts and periods. Resnais’s and Marker’s film coincided with the emergence of anticolonial culture and consciousness, which hinged on the African self-narrative and activist movements connected to the Parisian publishing house Présence Africaine. Attia’s work situates us in an indefinite period between World War I and the present and investigates the power relations between Western and non-Western worlds. Beloufa’s Kempinski overturns the idea of a globalized, materialistic future for everybody by filming dystopic yet realistic narratives. In this essay, the author examines how these three works are linked by a common investigation of ontological distances between Western and sub-Saharan societies and ways of exploring and conceptualizing these differences. Aesthetics and identity, heritage and museum-based practices, reappropriation and categorization are devices used to critically approach these pieces, which open a space for theorization and discussion on the concept of ontological distance. French anthropologist Philippe Descola’s ideas on existing differences in ontological conceptualizations of the world share a wide view of the world and its cosmologies akin to the alternative ways of thinking about the world that Attia, Marker and Renais, and Beloufa propose and provide a framework from which to reflect on what Attia, Marker and Resnais, and Beloufa grapple with in their works.