Autori
Robbins, Papagena
Woofter, Kristopher

Titolo
Gothumentary: The Gothic Unsettling of Documentary's Rhetoric of Rationality
Periodico
Textus
Anno: 2012 - Volume: 25 - Fascicolo: 3 - Pagina iniziale: 49 - Pagina finale: 62

In this paper we theorise gothumentary not as a subgenre, but as a criticalconcept. Through this concept we analyse some of the ways documentaryand the Gothic have come together as discursive and rhetorical modesin cinema in order to address similar questions: how the past manifestsin the present, how a subject can be represented and interpretedthrough documents, and how the limits of knowledge are drawn in ourrepresentations. Recent cinematic texts such as Capturing the Friedmans(d. Andrew Jarecki, 􀂠􀂤􀂤􀂙), In the Realms of the Unreal (d. Jessica Yu,􀂠􀂤􀂤􀁫), Must Read After My Death (d. Morgan Dews, 􀂠􀂤􀂤􀂐), Cropsey (d.Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio, 􀂠􀂤􀂤􀁵), and Resurrect Dead (d. JonFoy, 􀂠􀂤􀁽􀁽) show the potential of the Gothic to undermine longstandingnotions that positivistic strategies of representation are the key to whatdocumentary has to offer both audiences and scholars. We theorise that theGothic tradition's engagement with the pleasures and torments of the text,along with its manifest anxieties regarding representation, can provide acritical intervention in the current crisis surrounding documentary realism.In contrast to conventional documentary modes, the films included in thisstudy emphasise possibility over conclusiveness to suggest that perhapsthe most productive way of thinking about the mysteries of our world isthrough speculation, interpretation, contemplation, and a certain fearfulwonderment.



SICI: 1824-3967(2012)25:3<49:GTGUOD>2.0.ZU;2-P
Testo completo: http://www.mulino.it/download/article/10.7370/75485
Testo completo alternativo: http://www.mulino.it/doi/10.7370/75485

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