In this course, students will get acquainted with the phenomenon of Eastern European animation during the Cold War period: the key specifics of its production and aesthetics, its status within the system of state controlled media and the works of some of the prominent film-makers and founders of Czechoslovak, Polish and Russian/Soviet schools of animation, including Jan Švankmajer, Jiří Barta, Hermína Týrlová, Piotr Dumala, Jan Lenica, Andrei Khrzhanovskii and Fedor Khitruk. We will ask what language and narrative techniques these filmmakers developed in order to be able to express their critique of the communist regime despite the mechanisms of censorship? How did these practices affect spectators? Why did the state apparatus allow politically subversive works, to a certain extent, and what were some of the repercussions? The course will expose the complex interaction of political interests, social dynamics, aesthetic practices and production conventions, which at times pulled coercively into the same direction, at other times clashed with each other. The goal is to trace the history of cultural power configurations and tensions rather than stories of individuals against the system, which has been a prevalent treatment of post-1945 Eastern European cinema.

At the same time, the course will allow students to engage with the material in an active hands-on approach as they work together on the concept and realization of the final exhibit dedicated to this subject. The reader includes texts in English and German, discussions will take place in both languages.

Recommended reading (preliminary):

Bendazzi, Giannalberto. Animation: A World History. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2016.

Bobrowska, Olga, Michał Bobrowski and Bogusław Zmudziński, eds. Propaganda, Ideology, Animation. Twisted Dreams of History. Krakow: Wydawnictwa AGH, 2019.

Dobson, Nichola, Annabelle Honess Roe, Amy Ratelle, Caroline Ruddell, eds. Animation Studies Reader. Bloomsbury 2018.

Hames, Peter. "Animation." Czech and Slovak Cinema. Theme and Tradition. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 2009.

Hames, Peter. The Cinema of Jan Svankmajer: Dark Alchemy. London: Wallflower Press, 2008.

Moritz, William. "Narrative Strategies for Resistance and Protest in Eastern European Animation". In Jayne Pilling, ed. A Reader in Animation Studies. Sydney: John Libbey, 1997: 38-47.

Pontieri, Laura. Soviet Animation and the Thaw of the 1960s. New Barnet: John Libbey, 2012.

Pikkov, Ülo. Anti-Animation: Textures of Eastern European Animated Film. Doctoral Thesis. Estonian Academy of Arts, 2018.

Pikkov, Ülo. "On the Topics and Style of Soviet Animated Films." Baltic Screen Media Review 4, 2016: 17-37.

Wells, Paul. Understanding Animation. London: Routledge, 1998.