Power, command and violence in von Trier’s Manderlay. A political and philosophical analysis of pseudo-democracies.

Authors

  • Sara Marino King's College London

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2016.132

Keywords:

von Trier, Manderlay, violence, power, democracy, citizenship

Abstract

Alabama, 1933. A caravan of limousines carrying gangsters arrives in Manderlay, a small village where slavery still exists as an institution. Mam (Lauren Bacall) rules the plantation assisted by her foreman Wilhelm (Danny Glover), a slave who believes his people are not ready for the responsibilities of freedom. Driving up to the gates of the plantation, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) declares that the slaves must be informed how to enjoy freedom and thus becoming good citizens. Drawing on a textual and visual analysis of Manderlay, the article explores how democracy arises from the exercise of violence and power, as well as the inability of Western societies to deal with the dogma of difference.  

Author Biography

Sara Marino, King's College London

Dr Sara Marino is a Teaching Fellow in Digital Culture at the Department of Digital Humanities at King’s College London.  She holds a PhD in Communication Science from the University of Urbino (Italy), where she worked on digital media and diaspora.

She previously worked as a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Westminster, and as Associate Lecturer at Central Saint Martins – University of the Arts.

Her main research focuses on the social understanding and analysis of digital diasporas from a political economy perspective that seeks to explore how the socio-economic European scenario has affected intra-European migration. More recently, she became interested in the study of borders and transit zones, especially in relation to the refugee crisis and to the idea of Fortress Europe.  She also writes about issues of power and violence in cinema and reality television. 

References

Author. L’ebbrezza del potere. Vittime e persecutori. Verona: Ombre Corte, 2009.

Author. “The Role Of The Refugee And The Impact Of Fragmented Identities In Diasporic Filmmakers. A Review Of Dogville By Lars von Trier.” CineJ Cinema Journal 3, no. 1 (2013): 107-125.

Benjamin, Walter. “Critique of Violence.” In Walter Benjamin: Selected Writings Volume 1,1913-1926, edited by Marcus Bullock and Michael W. Jennings. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996.

Brighenti, Andrea Mubi, and Alessandro Castelli. “Foundations: Dogville to Manderlay.” In La violenza allo specchio, edited by Pierpaolo Antonello. Massa: Transeuropa, 2009.

Canetti, Elias. Crowds and power. New York: Seabury Press, 1962.

Clastres, Pierre. Society Against the State. Essays in Political Anthropology. New York: Zone Books, 1989.

Collier, Paul. Wars, Guns, and Votes. London and New York: Harper Collins, 2009.

De Simone, Antonio, Accarino, Bruno, and Luigi Alfieri. Diritto, giustizia e logiche del dominio, Perugia: Morlacchi, 2007.

Denny, David. “Signifying Grace: a reading of Lars Von Trier’s Dogville.” International Journal of Žižek Studies 1, no. 3 (2007).

Derdzinski, Joseph. “Rapid Urban Settlement, Violence, and the Democratizing State: Toward an Understanding?” USAF Institute for National Security Studies Research Report Series (2007) http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a540748.pdf

Diamond, Larry. Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999.

Fitzpatrick, Peter, and Patricia Tuitt. Critical Beings: Law, Nation and the Global Subject. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004.

Gehlen, Arnold. Man, his nature and place in the world. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988.

Girard, René. Violence and the Sacred. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1977.

Girard, René. The Scapegoat. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986.

Girard, René. Things Hidden since the Foundation of The World. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987.

Harsin, Jayson. “Von Trier’s Brechtian Gamble: On Manderlay.” Bright Lights Film Journal 51 (2006) http://brightslights.com/51/manderlay.htm

Hawksley, Humphrey. Democracy Kills. London: Macmillan, 2009.

Keane, John. Violence and Democracy. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Keane, John. “Does Democracy Have a Violent Heart?” In War, Democracy and Culture in Classical Athens, edited by David Pritchard, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Koutsourakis, Angelos. Politics as Form in Lars von Trier: A Post-Brechtian Reading. New York and London: Bloomsbury, 2013.

Levi, Primo. The drowned and the saved. New York: Summit Books, 1988.

Lloyd, Vincent. The Problem with Grace‬: ‪Reconfiguring Political Theology. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2011.

Mann, Michael. T‪he Dark Side of Democracy‬: ‪Explaining Ethnic Cleansing‬. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Morgenthau, Hans. Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985.

Muller, Jerry. Conservatism: An Anthology of Social and Political Thought. Princeton University Press, 1997.

Scott, Kyle. “A Girardian Critique of the Liberal Democratic Peace Theory.” Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis, and Culture 15, no. 18 (2008): 45-62.

Tharoor, Shashi. “Are Human Rights Universal?” World Policy Journal 16, no. 4 (1999/2000):1-6.

Downloads

Published

2016-10-11

How to Cite

Marino, S. (2016). Power, command and violence in von Trier’s Manderlay. A political and philosophical analysis of pseudo-democracies. CINEJ Cinema Journal, 5(2), 4–27. https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2016.132

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 2 (2016): Spring 2016

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
  2. Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
  3. The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
    1. Attribution—other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;
    with the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
  4. The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  5. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a prepublication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
  6. Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
  7. The Author represents and warrants that:
    1. the Work is the Author’s original work;
    2. the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
    3. the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
    4. the Work has not previously been published;
    5. the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
    6. the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
  8. The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.

Revised 7/16/2018. Revision Description: Removed outdated link.