Cinematic Echoes of Covenants Past and Present

National identity in the historical films of Steven Spielberg and Andrzej Wajda

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by Christopher Garbowski

Type: Essays
Subject: Genre > Historical films
Keywords: Steven Spielberg, Andrzej Wajda, historical films
Publishing date: 2018
Publisher: Peter Lang
Collection: Interdisciplinary Studies in Performance
Language: English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 278 pages
5 ½ x 8 ½ inches (14 x 21.5 cm)

ISBN

978-3-631-73007-2

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Book Presentation:
The author analyzes appropriately selected historical films of Steven Spielberg and Andrzej Wajda with respect to historical memory in relation to film. Cultural and moral foundations of national identity are also taken into account. Spielberg films particularly valuable for this comparative analysis are: «Schindler’s List», «Amistad», «Saving Private Ryan» and «Lincoln»; crucial Wajda films include: «Korczak», «Holy Week», «Katyń and Wałęsa». These works are analyzed in relation to the problem of representing the Holocaust, self-scrutiny in historical memory, commemoration of sacrifices for the national community during war, and foundation myths evoked through national heroes. The larger thematic framework for the above concerns is the underlying sense of covenant present within the two national communities that Spielberg and Wajda draw upon, a sense that explores the possibility of moral renewal under contemporary circumstances.

About the Author:
Christopher Garbowski is an Associate Professor at the Department of English at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Poland. He is the author and co-editor of several books, for example on religious life in Poland and on American and Polish cinema.

See the publisher website: Peter Lang

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