SMST318 05A Animation Studies Lecture

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SMST318 - 05A Animation StudiesLecture 6

• Animation and Counterculture

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Animation lends itself to strategies of
subversion and political resistance
why?
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Animation is often categorized as pure
entertainment, made for children it is often
(wrongly) assumed to be an inert means of
expressing ideas.
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Animation is a medium that provides the
potential for unlimited means of expression and
representation. Metamorphosis and
anthropomorphism are powerful strategies of
subversion.
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By utilising repositories of cultural memory as
resources for provoking visceral engagement,
animation has the potential to evoke strong
associations, memories and emotions.
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Animation has a long history of ghetto-isation
meaning that it has been dismissed within the
domain of art culture, and it has only
recently begun to be considered as a legitimate
topic of academic enquiry.
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• Drawing on a rich repertoire of audio-visual
• language, animation lends itself to the use
• of subversive narrative strategies such as
• allegory
• satire
• irony
• parody
• pastiche,
• bricolage
• caricature

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Allegory a work in which the characters and
events are to be understood as representing
other things and symbolically expressing a
deeper, often spiritual, moral, or political
meaning Satire the use of wit, especially
irony, sarcasm, and ridicule, to attack the
vices and follies of humankind
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Irony something that happens that is
incongruous with what might be expected to
happen, especially when this seems absurd or
laughable Pastiche a piece of creative work,
for example, in literature, drama, or art, that
is a mixture of things borrowed from other
works, or that imitates and often satirizes
another work or style
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Bricolage something that is made or put
together with whatever materials happen to be
available Caricature a drawing, description, or
performance that exaggerates somebodys or
somethings characteristics, for example,
somebodys physical features, for humorous or
satirical effect
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European Unifying Experiences

• Experience of war
• Political turmoil
• Support for artistic expression
• Artistic repression via state control
• Rich tradition of fairy-tales fables
• Emphasis on visual story-telling
• Cultural aesthetic alternatives to USA
• Influence of Avante Garde and Surrealism

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European Animation
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Animation enables me to give magical powers to
things. In my films, I move many objects, real
objects. Suddenly, everyday contact with things
which people are used to acquires a new
dimension and in this way casts doubt over
reality. In other words, I use animation as a
means of subversion. (Svankmajer, 1992)