Sacrificing uncertainty – prolegomena to the study of post-secular cinema Cover Image

Poświęcić niepewność – prolegomena do badań nad kinem postsekularnym
Sacrificing uncertainty – prolegomena to the study of post-secular cinema

Author(s): Anna Maria Piskorska
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Theology and Religion
Published by: Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza
Keywords: postsecularism; postsecular cinema; postmodernism; cultural analysis; Mieke Bal; religious flm; European cinema; Bruno Dumont; Hadewijch; John McDonagh; Calvary; Xavier Beauvois; Of Gods and Men

Summary/Abstract: This article undertakes the issue of defining film phenomena which put forward questions of a primary religious nature (about the meaning of life, source of evil, life after death, the existence of Absolute, etc.) in a way that is independent from major religious traditions. The author posits that describing this phenomenon in the case of European film culture is done best by employing the philosophical thought of postsecularism. Utilizing Mieke Bal’s method of cultural analysis, the author takes as an example the term “sacrifice” to point to the existence of different models by which religious topics are undertaken by the cinema. This leads to a preliminary typology of the phenomenon which differentiates between ‘apologetic’ and ‘critical’ films and, furthermore, between films that refer to particular religious traditions and those expressing a postsecular perspective.

  • Issue Year: 30/2021
  • Issue No: 39
  • Page Range: 47-66
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Polish