The Leader and the Mass: The Political Body and the Power of Rhetorics
We can structure the relationship between the mass and the leader as a seduction, as an erotic ritual. This erotic ritual functions through a scheme (boy meets girl) that we can consider as a starting point to define the nature of the mass when is approaching the Power. I want to use as a case stud...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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UNICApress
2014-05-01
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| Series: | Between |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ojs.unica.it/index.php/between/article/view/1137 |
| _version_ | 1797722869307801600 |
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| author | Lorenzo Gramatica |
| author_facet | Lorenzo Gramatica |
| author_sort | Lorenzo Gramatica |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We can structure the relationship between the mass and the leader as a seduction, as an erotic ritual. This erotic ritual functions through a scheme (boy meets girl) that we can consider as a starting point to define the nature of the mass when is approaching the Power. I want to use as a case study two scenes from the film The Fall of Berlin, a war/love drama directed by Michail Chiaureli, a stunning example of propaganda films of late Stalinist period. First, I am going to analyse the relationship between Alesha (the hero of the film, or, we can say, the alter hero of the film but not Stalin) and Stalin, focusing my attention on this so called ritual of seduction; the one in love (Alesha), the object of scopophilia (Stalin), according to the work made by Laura Mulvey. Then, through the analysis of the ending scene of the film, I will try to delineate some characteristic of the mass and Stalin facing each others; from Canetti to Agamben, the importance of gestures. From a submissiveness crowd unable to control their gestures in front of the leader, to a crowd steady and controlled (as in Gezi park); the immobility as a weapon to manifest dissent, the immobility as a key to problematize our use of the body. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T09:53:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e2ae5a0fba5240e793ffeea69c329aa4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2039-6597 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T09:53:49Z |
| publishDate | 2014-05-01 |
| publisher | UNICApress |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Between |
| spelling | doaj.art-e2ae5a0fba5240e793ffeea69c329aa42023-09-02T12:21:26ZengUNICApressBetween2039-65972014-05-014710.13125/2039-6597/1137830The Leader and the Mass: The Political Body and the Power of RhetoricsLorenzo GramaticaWe can structure the relationship between the mass and the leader as a seduction, as an erotic ritual. This erotic ritual functions through a scheme (boy meets girl) that we can consider as a starting point to define the nature of the mass when is approaching the Power. I want to use as a case study two scenes from the film The Fall of Berlin, a war/love drama directed by Michail Chiaureli, a stunning example of propaganda films of late Stalinist period. First, I am going to analyse the relationship between Alesha (the hero of the film, or, we can say, the alter hero of the film but not Stalin) and Stalin, focusing my attention on this so called ritual of seduction; the one in love (Alesha), the object of scopophilia (Stalin), according to the work made by Laura Mulvey. Then, through the analysis of the ending scene of the film, I will try to delineate some characteristic of the mass and Stalin facing each others; from Canetti to Agamben, the importance of gestures. From a submissiveness crowd unable to control their gestures in front of the leader, to a crowd steady and controlled (as in Gezi park); the immobility as a weapon to manifest dissent, the immobility as a key to problematize our use of the body.http://ojs.unica.it/index.php/between/article/view/1137BodyRhetoricsGender StudiesPower. |
| spellingShingle | Lorenzo Gramatica The Leader and the Mass: The Political Body and the Power of Rhetorics Between Body Rhetorics Gender Studies Power. |
| title | The Leader and the Mass: The Political Body and the Power of Rhetorics |
| title_full | The Leader and the Mass: The Political Body and the Power of Rhetorics |
| title_fullStr | The Leader and the Mass: The Political Body and the Power of Rhetorics |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Leader and the Mass: The Political Body and the Power of Rhetorics |
| title_short | The Leader and the Mass: The Political Body and the Power of Rhetorics |
| title_sort | leader and the mass the political body and the power of rhetorics |
| topic | Body Rhetorics Gender Studies Power. |
| url | http://ojs.unica.it/index.php/between/article/view/1137 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lorenzogramatica theleaderandthemassthepoliticalbodyandthepowerofrhetorics AT lorenzogramatica leaderandthemassthepoliticalbodyandthepowerofrhetorics |