Towards a Theory of Political Art Cultural Politics of 'Black Wave' Film in Yugoslavia, 1963–1972

Authors

• Sezgin Boynik

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17409/kpt.v1i1.107

Abstract

To discuss Yugoslavia today, even in academic and scholarly institutions always involves certain ideological and political issues. I should make this clear already at the beginning of my introduction to the topic. The topic of my dissertation is cultural politics of Yugoslavian ‘Black wave’ films between 1963 and 1972. One could ask, logically, what kind of relevance such topic could have in the circumstances temporally and spatially so distant from the original context. Simply, what is the value of theoretical and scholarly work dealing with Yugoslavian film of sixties and seventies today in Finland? I am arguing that there is a lot. The main device of my methodology, which I am deriving from the work of Russian Formalism, is the procedure of distanciation, or de-familiarization, which gives a possibility to look at the issue at stake from unusual perspectives. This device, often used in artistic practices, is also a possibility to renew or refresh the working methods and forms of experience.