Home“The Faces of Garbo”: the construction, circulation and appropriations of a global star image
“The Faces of Garbo”: the construction, circulation and appropriations of a global star image
« Les visages de Garbo » : construction, circulation et appropriations d’une image de star internationale
Published on Tuesday, August 06, 2019
Abstract
Beyond the fascination that “Garbo’s face” inspired, which Roland Barthes compared to a “Platonic idea” in a famous passage from Mythologies (1957), this symposium wishes to study the different faces of Garbo, embedding her screen performances as well as the extra-filmic material which helped build her star persona within a range of social and cultural contexts. Contributions will address both the construction of her image (comparing, for instance, the promotional discourse surrounding her in different countries) and its reception, be it by critics or “ordinary” filmgoers.
Announcement
ENS Lyon, March 12-13 2020
This symposium is sponsored by the IRHIM, LASLAR, and RIRRA21, in partnership with the GREPs.
Argument
Following two major roles in European films – Gösta Berlings saga (Mauritz Stiller, 1924, Sweden) and Die freudlose Gasse (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1925, Germany), Greta Garbo crossed the Atlantic and starred in Torrent (Monta Bell, 1926) produced by MGM, a studio she remained loyal to right up to her last screen role in Two-Faced Woman (George Cukor, 1941). Her career in Hollywood made the Swedish actress a huge international star, reaching a variety of audiences from different national, social and cultural backgrounds. However, until now, only limited attention has been paid to the numerous ways in which diverse audiences engaged with and appropriated her star persona.
Beyond the fascination that “Garbo’s face” inspired, which Roland Barthes compared to a “Platonic idea” in a famous passage from Mythologies (1957), this symposium wishes to study the different faces of Garbo, embedding her screen performances as well as the extra-filmic material which helped build her star persona within a range of social and cultural contexts. Contributions will address both the construction of her image (comparing, for instance, the promotional discourse surrounding her in different countries) and its reception, be it by critics or “ordinary” filmgoers.
Through the Garbo case study, this symposium wishes to highlight the rich articulation of historical and cultural studies, star studies and reception studies, paying close attention to the diversity of contexts in which star images circulate on a global level. Additionally, interaction between specialists from different fields will contribute to the scholarship on one of the biggest stars in the history of the cinema. Indeed, a number of studies have focused on Garbo’s acting (Affron 1977, Juan 2016), on the importance of her status as a foreign star in defining her image in the United States (Lunde 2004, Horak 2014), and on the gender and sexuality dimensions of her persona, examined from psychoanalytical (Matthews 1988), as well as historical and cultural (Dhommée 2000, Fischer 2001, Horak 2014, Banner 2016) perspectives. Less has been written, however, on the diverse processes of construction and appropriation of her image, especially in relation to specific communities (Weiss 1991), or outside the US context (Coutel 2014).
Papers may focus the construction of Garbo’s star persona in a national or subcultural context, concentrating on certain aspects of her image (androgyny, aura of mystery, acting, etc.) or on one or more cultural facets of her reception (gender, nationality, sexuality, race, class, etc.). They may focus on a particular film, on a period or key moment of her career (her arrival in Hollywood, crossover to talkies, retirement, etc.), and address filmic and/or extra-filmic material (photographs, articles in popular film magazines, fan mail, etc.). Comparative approaches are welcome: Garbo’s persona and its reception could thus be compared with those of another star, or several different stars, in the manner of Alexander Doty (2011) who contrasts Garbo and Dietrich; comparisons can also be made between differing national contexts (Garbo’s reception in the US and the UK for example).
Organizers
- Évelyne Coutel,
- Esther Halle,
- Myriam Juan
- Jules Sandeau
Submission guidelines
300-word proposals, along with a short biography, should be sent
by 15th October, 2019
to evelyne.coutel@ens-lyon.fr, esther.halle@ens-lyon.fr, myriam.juan@unicaen.fr and sandeau.jules@gmail.com. Answers will be sent on November 1st.
Papers can be in English or French.
A publication of peer-reviewed texts will be proposed by the organizers.
Selective Bibliography
AFFRON, Charles, « Uncensored Garbo », in MAST Gerald & COHEN Marshall (dir.), Film Theory and Criticism, New York, Oxford University Press, 1979, p. 730-740.
AFFRON, Charles, Star Acting: Gish, Garbo, Davis, New York, E. P. Dutton, 1977.
BANNER, Lois, « “The Mystery Woman of Hollywood”: Greta Garbo, Feminism, and Stardom », Feminist Media Histories, 2 (4), Fall 2016, p. 84-115.
BARTHES, Roland, « Le visage de Garbo », in Mythologies, Paris, le Seuil, 1957, p. 70-71.
CARR, Larry, Four Fabulous Faces: Swanson, Crawford, Garbo, and Dietrich, New York, Galahad, 1970.
COUTEL, Évelyne, « Les stars et la cinéphilie dans la culture cinématographique espagnole du début du xxe siècle: le cas Greta Garbo », Thèse de doctorat en Études romanes espagnoles, Université Paris-Sorbonne, 2014.
DHOMMÉE, Isabelle, Les cinq « empoisonneuses »: G. Garbo, J. Crawford, M. Dietrich, M. West, K. Hepburn et les États-Unis des années trente. Analyse du phénomène social de la star, Thèse de doctorat en Études cinématographiques, Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2000.
DOTY, Alexander, « Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo: The Sexy Hausfrau versus the Swedish Sphinx », in McLEAN Adrienne L., Glamour in a Golden Age: Movie Stars of the 1930s (dir.), New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 2011, p. 108-128.
ERKKILA, Betsy, « Greta Garbo: Sailing Beyond the Frame », Critical Inquiry, 11, January 1985, p. 595-619.
FISCHER, Lucy, « Greta Garbo and Silent Cinema: The Actress as Art Deco Icon », Camera Obscura, 16 (3), 2001, p. 83-111.
GAINES, Jane, « The Queen Christina Tie‐Ups: Convergence of Show Window and Screen », Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 11 (1), 1989, p. 35-60.
HORAK, Laura, « Queer Crossings: Greta Garbo, National Identity, and Gender Deviance », in BEAN Jennifer M., KAPSE Anupama & HORAK Laura (ed.), Silent Cinema and the Politics of Space, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2014, p. 270-294.
JUAN, Myriam, « Greta Garbo à Hollywood: une actrice d’un nouveau genre », in DAMOUR Christophe (dir.), Jeu d’acteurs. Corps et gestes au cinéma, Strasbourg, Presses universitaires de Strasbourg, 2016, p. 103-116.
LIPPE, Richard, « Greta Garbo, the Image Star – A Corrective Reading », CineAction, 26-27, Winter 1992, p. 12-21.
LUNDE, Arne, « “Garbo Talks!”: Scandinavians in Hollywood, the Talkie Revolution, and the Crisis of Foreign Voice », in FULLERTON John (dir.), Screen Culture: History and Textuality, Sydney: John Libbey & Co, 2004, p. 21-39.
MATTHEWS, Peter, « Garbo and Phallic Motherhood: A “Homosexual” Visual Economy », Screen, 29 (3), July 1988, p. 14-42.
KRUTZEN Michaela, The Most Beautiful Woman on the Screen: The Fabrication of the Star Greta Garbo, Bern, P. Lang, 1992.
SALZBERG, Ana, Beyond the Looking Glass: Narcissism and Female Stardom in Studio-Era Hollywood, New York, Berghahn Books, 2014.
SZALOKY, Melinda, « “As you desire me”: Reading “The Divine Garbo” through movement, silence and the sublime », Film History, 18 (2), 2006, p. 196–208.
TOTH, Zsófia Anna, « Greta Garbo, Her Transgressions and Unconventional Ways On and Off Screen », Brno Studies in English, 34, 2008, Brno, Masarykova
TYLER, Parker, « The Garbo Image », in The Films of Greta Garbo, New York, Citadel Press, 1963, p. 9-31.
TYNAN, Kenneth, « Garbo », Sight and Sound, April-June 1954, p. 187-190, 220.
WEISS, Andrea, « A Queer Feeling when I Look at You. Hollywood stars and lesbian spectatorship in the 1930s », in GLEDHILL Christine (dir.), Stardom. Industry of Desire, London and New York, Routledge, 1991, p. 283–299.
Subjects
Places
- ENS Lyon, 15 parvis René Descartes
Lyon, France (69342)
Date(s)
- Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Keywords
- Greta Garbo, star, cinéma, Hollywood, public, réception
Contact(s)
- jules sandeau
courriel : jules [dot] sandeau [at] univ-montp3 [dot] fr
Reference Urls
Information source
- jules sandeau
courriel : jules [dot] sandeau [at] univ-montp3 [dot] fr
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« “The Faces of Garbo”: the construction, circulation and appropriations of a global star image », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Tuesday, August 06, 2019, https://doi.org/10.58079/139w
