School of Languages and Linguistics - Research Publications
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ItemNon-Love in a Non-Place: Liminality and Dislocation in Andrei Zvyagintsev’s Loveless(International Journal of Russian Studies, 2021)In this article Andrei Zvyagintsev’s film Loveless (2017) is analysed from the angle of domestic space using the theoretical prism of liminality and non-places. It is argued that, while the concept of home may be defined as private and personal, as opposed to public and impersonal, the domestic space in this film, far from being a comforting and reassuring destination in itself, can be read as liminal, as transitory, as a space ‘in-between’ or, indeed, a space which, ideally, should be a sanctuary, but which is, in fact, vulnerable to external forces. The article also examines Loveless in the light of Marc Augé’s seminal work, Non-places: An Introduction to Supermodernity, in particular the extent to which his theory of non-places may, in certain instances in this supermodern globalised world, be as applicable to the domestic space as it is to the increasingly ubiquitous and liminal public spaces of airports, hotels, shopping centres and other typical non-places. It is demonstrated that, as in Zvyagintsev’s earlier films Elena (2011) and Leviathan (2014), Loveless uses a framing technique which highlights the centrality of domestic space in the film. From the outset, the film is concerned with the ‘in-betweenness’ of the characters’ lives, and domestic space plays a key role in this, although it is not consciously sought or coveted by the characters, but rather a consequence of their actions. It is argued that tragedy is not a feature of Loveless: in its place are incomplete transitions, rites of passage awaiting their natural fulfilment. It is this dislocation and liminality which pervades the entire atmosphere of the film and gives it its almost unbearable sense of foreboding.
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ItemFrom Post-Soviet to Post-National: Domestic Space as Non-Place in Andrei Zviagintsev’s 'Elena' and 'Leviathan'(Mustafa Yaşar, 2018)In this article two films directed by Andrei Zviagintsev, Elena (2011) and Leviathan (2014), are compared and contrasted from the point of view of Marc Augé’s concept of place and non-place. Although these two films differ in specific details, similarities exist at several levels which are frequently linked with the theme of domestic space. Both films utilise similar framing techniques which place the respective main domestic spaces at the structural and thematic forefront of each plot. Both films employ a binary locational symmetry: while Elena juxtaposes a Soviet-era apartment with a modern luxury apartment, Leviathan operates with a single domestic space which stands opposed to the world outside and is, ultimately, destroyed by it. In each film the main domestic space is usurped by nefarious and dishonest means, in Elena by the murder of Vladimir by the eponymous heroine who thereafter brings her family to live in the new apartment, and in Leviathan by the scheming mayor who, it is assumed, murders Nikolai’s wife and destroys his house for the purposes of building a new church. The ultimate casualty in both films is moral truth which finds its perfect setting in the modern world of non-place.
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ItemThe Fragility of Domestic Space within Corruptive Non-Place in Andrei Zviagintsev’s "Leviathan"'(Ural Federal University, 2018)In this article the authors analyse Andrei Zvyagintsev’s feature film Leviathan (2014) from the perspective of domestic space using Marc Augé’s theory of nonplaces. As in Zvyagintsev’s film Elena, the film uses a framing technique, placing the domestic space in question, in this case the site of Nikolai’s house, in the film’s central role. From the outset the house is depicted as somehow fragile and unprotected from the outside world, and, as the plot progresses, this vulnerability increasingly comes into play. The main instigation for the events which follow comes from the town’s corrupt mayor, who plans to purchase Nikolai’s house for a fraction of its true value and build a church on its site. This action brings Nikolai’s former army colleague Dmitry, now a successful Moscow lawyer, into the action, leading directly to infidelity on the part of Nikolai’s wife (Liliya), and, ultimately, her death, presumably at the hands of the corrupt mayor. The external corrupting force of non-place and non-language, seen clearly in scenes such as that at the city court, where the clerk reads the court’s decision at an improbably fast tempo, increasingly enters Nikolai’s home and family situation, and, ultimately, undermines, then destroys, the integrity of private domestic space and the lives and identities of those who inhabit it.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableAspirations of Home in Post-Soviet Russia: Domestic Spaces and National Resonances in Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Elena(Ural Federal University, 2016)