Group 3 Week 4 – Annotated Bibliography

Thibodeau, Timothy. “Apocalypse Then, Apocalypse Now: Rethinking Joan of Arc in the 21st Century.” Quidditas, vol. 38, 2017, pp. 163 – 188, https://rmmra.byu.edu/files/2018/12/38.pdf.

Explain your choice. Describe what the source is about and how it helps us learn more about 1920s French Film History.
The source is an article, written in a journal. It focusses on the history of Joan’s life, her popularity as a cultural icon, and her portrayal in different films. It suggests that she is the most depicted female character in the history of cinema, and that one of the best-known portrayals of her is the 1928 film ‘Le Passion de Jeanne d’Arc’ which was directed by Carl Theodor Dryer. By confirming that this film is one of the best-known portrayals suggests that filmmakers in 1920s France weren’t afraid to be controversial in making films of a political nature.

Select a quotation from the source that you feel is useful for addressing the focus questions and explain why.
“Joan’s short yet spectacular life (1412-1431) provides rich opportunities to analyse the conflicts of social class, gender identity and religious conformity that her career embodied.”
This quote suggests that the story of Joan of Arc helps to illustrate the affect she had on cinema throughout the years. She contributed to film style due to the numerous occasions she has been portrayed in motion pictures.

Examine the bibliography of this source. Think about the type of sources it cites, and how these sources might be useful in developing your knowledge of the primary source.
The journal article we chose cites a wide range of sources. We chose a couple that looked interesting and examined them below:
Benson, Edward. “Oh, What a Lovely War! Joan of Arc on Screen.” Edited by Martha W. Driver and Sid Ray, 94-114. The Medieval Hero on Screen: Representations from Beowulf to Buffy. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland, 2004 – Benson discusses 4 different representations of Joan of Arc onscreen – Joan the Woman (1916), The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Joan of Arc (1948), and The Messenger (1999). Benson works by identifying useful scenes. In studying The Passion of Joan of Arc and developing our knowledge of the film, this source would clearly be useful as it allows us to make comparisons to other portrayals and representations of this iconic character.
Feinberg, Leslie. Transgender Warriors. Making History, From Joan of Arc to RuPaul. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996 – In this book, Feinberg discusses the history of transgender people and those who resisted gender conventions. This source would be useful in understanding the historical context behind The Passion of Joan of Arc, and also grounding the film in the present day, with references to RuPaul and other modern transgender figures.

 

Hoberman, J. “A Restored ‘Passion of Joan of Arc’ Still a Transcendent Masterpiece.” The New York Times, 22 Nov. 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/22/movies/the-passion-of-joan-of-arc-new-digital-restoration-film-forum.html.

Explain your choice. Describe what the source is about and how it helps us learn more about 1920s French Film History.
The source we choose is a newspaper article that can give us an in-depth analyse about ‘The Passion of Joan of Arc’. The source claims ‘The Passion of Joan of Arc’ has an unremovable role in 1920s French cinema. The writer even canonized the film as a cinematic must-see. The article reveals the source of inspiration from the film comes from Soviet filmmakers such as Sergei Eisenstein, which shows that French cinema in 1920s was widely influenced by different film styles all around the world.

Select a quotation from the source that you feel is useful for addressing the focus questions and explain why.
A quotation from the source that I feel is useful for addressing the focus questions comes from the beginning of the introduction, and reads: “Joan of Arc has stood alone among legendary figures of the Middle Ages in her capacity to be appropriated and employed for a host of modern noble causes.” This is because it suggests that Joan of Arc’s story is malleable in the sense that its messages can be applied to a range of contexts over time, making it perfect for film form, at any point in time from the 1920s up to today.

One thought on “Group 3 Week 4 – Annotated Bibliography

  1. This is excellent work that is highly responsive to the parameters of this week’s workshop task. It is clear that you have taken time to consider both the texts in question from theoretical and content perspectives on the one hand, and industrial on the other. This crucially shows awareness of both form and content.

    It is also impressive how you have researched and given thought to the bibliography of Thibodeau’s article. Bibliographies can be a goldmine for researching for essays and future assignments and your first efforts here are very promising.

    A couple of minor points:

    where possible put page numbers in parentheses after quotes. I know this may not be possible with an online article from the New York Times, but it is for Thibodeau’s article.

    A screen grab or photo of the title pages of the articles in question would bring even more life to the blog post.

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