Page 133 - Darko Štrajn, From Walter Benjamin to the End of Cinema: Identities, Illusion and Signification. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute, 2017. Digital Library, Dissertationes, 29.
P. 133
robar-dor in‘s mir ror: r ams and mammoths in the context of yugoslav history
effect, Robar-Dorin‘s film appears much “stronger” than some other “artis-
tically obsessed” films of that period, which received far better institution-
al support. As Robar-Dorin perfectly demonstrated, the phantasmatics of
“artistic” creation, which determined the course of Slovenian cinema as an
obsession with the cult of art, had obstructed the cinematic functioning of
films and kept film enclosed in the boundaries of more or less explicitly na-
tionalist ideology, as it had been analysed by Žižek. Rams and Mammoths
introduced a split into the linkage of ideology-nation-imaginary, originat-
ing in a specific sociological approach to the topic of identity. In this con-
text the importance of culture was reduced, and film in Slovenia took on a
different role.
Love of Our Own Soil
Robar-Dorin‘s film was shot at the time of a growing wave of democrati-
zation in communist Slovenia. Robar-Dorin’s situation as an independent
artist coincided with the emergence of an alternative in the political space,
which was defined in an open concept of civil society. The film Rams and
Mammoths was one of those contributions that redefined Slovenian nation-
al identity in the notion of democracy. However, the meaning and impor-
tance of both Robar-Dorin’s film and the political alternative was substan-
tially mitigated in later political events. The understanding of the notion of
national (i.e., ethnic) identity, which was once relegated to official culture
under communism, was later moved to politics. Moreover, its space is re-
tained in the divide revealed in Robar-Dorin’s film: the divide between ex-
plicitly “traditionalist” nationalist ideology and urban multicultural ten-
dencies. Because this film exposes images that “speak” in frameworks of
discontinuous and parallel narratives, the divide between Slovenians and
“non-Slovenians” turns into an internal Slovenian divide between differ-
ent perceptions rooted in ideological positions. Thus, for instance, the “su-
perior” position of a “civilized” Slovenian becomes visible as explicitly vul-
gar and offensive. Such a presentation subsequently turns into a metaphor
of the nationalist ideology, which points to a role that this ideology plays
as a cultural agency in a formation of socially framed perceptions and cor-
responding attitudes. On the other hand, the movie makes clear that oth-
er attitudes exist as well, which is visible in the narrative of a young Bos-
nian and the degree of acceptance he finds in his school environment, and
also in some aspects of another narrative of the character of Marko Skače,
who is treated for his aggressive behaviour by institutions that are supposed
131
effect, Robar-Dorin‘s film appears much “stronger” than some other “artis-
tically obsessed” films of that period, which received far better institution-
al support. As Robar-Dorin perfectly demonstrated, the phantasmatics of
“artistic” creation, which determined the course of Slovenian cinema as an
obsession with the cult of art, had obstructed the cinematic functioning of
films and kept film enclosed in the boundaries of more or less explicitly na-
tionalist ideology, as it had been analysed by Žižek. Rams and Mammoths
introduced a split into the linkage of ideology-nation-imaginary, originat-
ing in a specific sociological approach to the topic of identity. In this con-
text the importance of culture was reduced, and film in Slovenia took on a
different role.
Love of Our Own Soil
Robar-Dorin‘s film was shot at the time of a growing wave of democrati-
zation in communist Slovenia. Robar-Dorin’s situation as an independent
artist coincided with the emergence of an alternative in the political space,
which was defined in an open concept of civil society. The film Rams and
Mammoths was one of those contributions that redefined Slovenian nation-
al identity in the notion of democracy. However, the meaning and impor-
tance of both Robar-Dorin’s film and the political alternative was substan-
tially mitigated in later political events. The understanding of the notion of
national (i.e., ethnic) identity, which was once relegated to official culture
under communism, was later moved to politics. Moreover, its space is re-
tained in the divide revealed in Robar-Dorin’s film: the divide between ex-
plicitly “traditionalist” nationalist ideology and urban multicultural ten-
dencies. Because this film exposes images that “speak” in frameworks of
discontinuous and parallel narratives, the divide between Slovenians and
“non-Slovenians” turns into an internal Slovenian divide between differ-
ent perceptions rooted in ideological positions. Thus, for instance, the “su-
perior” position of a “civilized” Slovenian becomes visible as explicitly vul-
gar and offensive. Such a presentation subsequently turns into a metaphor
of the nationalist ideology, which points to a role that this ideology plays
as a cultural agency in a formation of socially framed perceptions and cor-
responding attitudes. On the other hand, the movie makes clear that oth-
er attitudes exist as well, which is visible in the narrative of a young Bos-
nian and the degree of acceptance he finds in his school environment, and
also in some aspects of another narrative of the character of Marko Skače,
who is treated for his aggressive behaviour by institutions that are supposed
131
