The article proposes a reflection on the implicitly utopian dimension of the insular form. In the course of our entire cultural history, the islands have been a privileged place for the imaginary development of situations and forms of life that are “different” compared to those of the “mainland”, from whose perspective the island is usually considered. This reflection is developed through a semiotic analysis of the cinematographic production of Robert J. Flaherty, who in his works, both documentary and fictional, gave ample space to the islands. In particular, the article focuses on two of Flaherty’s most famous documentary works, the film Moana, of 1926, often referred to as the first example of ethnographic cinema in history, and Man of Aran, of 1934. These documentary films are compared to other testimonial documents and to the works of fictional cinema in which Flaherty participated, to show the idealizing and ideological, utopian, character of his work. For the purposes of the analysis, the article proposes to distinguish two semantic aspects connected to the island space, called “insularity” and “insulanity”, the first relative to the topological dimension, the second concerning the relationship between the “elements”. Distinction of which we try to show the relevance for a reflection on the specificity of the insular space.

Lancioni, T. (2020). Robert J. Flaherty e l’immaginario insulare. LEXIA(35-36), 313-331.

Robert J. Flaherty e l’immaginario insulare

T. Lancioni
2020-01-01

Abstract

The article proposes a reflection on the implicitly utopian dimension of the insular form. In the course of our entire cultural history, the islands have been a privileged place for the imaginary development of situations and forms of life that are “different” compared to those of the “mainland”, from whose perspective the island is usually considered. This reflection is developed through a semiotic analysis of the cinematographic production of Robert J. Flaherty, who in his works, both documentary and fictional, gave ample space to the islands. In particular, the article focuses on two of Flaherty’s most famous documentary works, the film Moana, of 1926, often referred to as the first example of ethnographic cinema in history, and Man of Aran, of 1934. These documentary films are compared to other testimonial documents and to the works of fictional cinema in which Flaherty participated, to show the idealizing and ideological, utopian, character of his work. For the purposes of the analysis, the article proposes to distinguish two semantic aspects connected to the island space, called “insularity” and “insulanity”, the first relative to the topological dimension, the second concerning the relationship between the “elements”. Distinction of which we try to show the relevance for a reflection on the specificity of the insular space.
2020
Lancioni, T. (2020). Robert J. Flaherty e l’immaginario insulare. LEXIA(35-36), 313-331.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11365/1137650