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Blogpost 3: DOCUMENTARY AESTHETICS

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Documentary aesthetics encompasses a rich and diverse tradition that spans various forms of artistic expression, including literature, photography, film, and visual arts. At its core, documentary aesthetics seeks to capture and represent reality in its raw and unfiltered form, often focusing on social issues, historical events, and everyday life. The approach is deeply rooted in the Russian cultural and artistic tradition, reflecting the country's tumultuous history and complex socio-political landscape.[1]
One influential figure whose ideas have significantly shaped discussions surrounding documentary aesthetics is Jacques Derrida, a prominent French philosopher known for his contributions to deconstruction theory. Derrida's work challenges traditional notions of truth, representation, and language, offering a critique of the ways in which meaning is constructed and interpreted. In the context of documentary aesthetics, Derrida's ideas encourage artists and scholars to question the authenticity and objectivity of documentary forms, urging them to explore the underlying power dynamics and ideological biases that shape representations of reality.[2]
For instance, in this excerpt from Jacques Derrida's "Archive Fever," Derrida analyzes Sigmund Freud's text "Civilization and Its Discontents." He examines Freud's rhetorical strategy at the beginning of Chapter 6, where Freud seemingly expresses doubt about the value of his own work, questioning whether it's worth the ink, paper, and labor to document what he perceives as common knowledge. Freud suggests he may be wasting resources by expounding on self-evident ideas (J. Denida, p.76).
Another key figure in the discourse on documentary aesthetics is Hal Foster, an American art critic and theorist whose writings have explored the intersection of art, politics, and culture. Foster's work emphasizes the importance of critical engagement with documentary practices, arguing for an approach that acknowledges the complex relationship between aesthetics and ideology. Through his analyses of contemporary art and visual culture, Foster encourages viewers to interrogate the social and political implications of documentary representations, challenging them to consider the ways in which these representations shape our understanding of the world.[3]
Holster discusses in "In Archival Impulse" the emergence of an archival impulse in contemporary art, exemplified by the works of artists such as Thomas Hirschhorn, Sam Durant, and Tacita Dean, among others. He claims that these artists engage in practices that involve exploring and manipulating historical information, often through the use of found images, objects, and texts. They create installations, films, and other artworks that reflect on specific features, events, and figures in modern art, philosophy, and history (H.Foster, p. 143)
"The Enemy on Trial: Early Soviet Courts on Stage and Screen" by J.A. Cassiday talks about the use of theatricality in Soviet show trials and compares it to the role of drama in Western legal traditions. The paper begins by acknowledging the familiar characterization of Soviet show trials as highly theatrical spectacles, often described as "bad drama" intended for public consumption rather than genuine legal proceedings. Critics point to various elements, such as hand-picked audiences, scripted confessions, and tyrannical prosecution, to argue against the legitimacy of these trials (J.A. Cassiday, pp. 3-4).
Moreover, Cassiday emphasizes the historical and thematic connection between drama and the law, highlighting that this association is not unique to Soviet show trials or other 20th-century legal proceedings. According to the author, the connection between drama and the law dates back to ancient Greece, as evidenced by Plato's Laws. Manuals of rhetoric since fifth-century Greece have taught that the skills of a lawyer are akin to those of an actor. Western drama frequently incorporates legal themes and settings. Works such as Aeschylus's "Eumenides," Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice," and Brecht's "Caucasian Chalk Circle" utilize legal contexts for thematic and structural purposes. Similarly, it is mentioned that the Russian theater also draws upon legal material in works such as Kapnist's "Chicanery" and Tolstoi's "The Living Corpse," reflecting the shared thematic interests between drama and the law (J.A. Cassiday, pp. 7-8).

   
 
 
[1] Sidenova, R. (2021). The Topographical Aesthetic in Late Stalinist Soviet Documentary Film. A Companion to Documentary Film History, 71-93.
[2] Sinnerbrink, R. (2016). Photobiographies: The ‘Derrida’documentaries as film-philosophy. NECSUS. European Journal of Media Studies, 5(1), 59-76.
[3] Foster, H. (1983). The anti-aesthetic: Essays on postmodern culture.

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