Here to stay
Death, mourning and hauntology in Denis Côté’s Répertoire des villes disparues (2019)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21783392 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Silvia Angeli (0000-0002-3009-0102, University of Manchester, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 646-668 |
| Publication date | 2024-07-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | New Review of Film and Television Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1740-0309 • E-ISSN: 1740-7923 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17400309.2024.2386886 |
| OpenAlex | W4404763856 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 23 |
Moving away from traditional – and reductive and self-serving – interpretations, Jacques Derrida proposes a compelling model of mourning that has at its core a deep, unadulterated respect for the deceased, their uniqueness and their irreplaceability. This highly ethical configuration is the theoretical lens through which Denis Côté’s Répertoire des villes disparues (Ghost Town Anthology, 2019) is analysed. I first examine the characters’ grief and mourning in light of Derrida’s understanding of the process: an inherently aporetic experience, mourning is both an impossible and an interminable task. The second section hinges on the notion of the look, understood in two ways: the returned’s outward appearance (with a focus on mask iconography) and the significance of the returned’s gaze. In particular, I suggest that Répertoire develops an ethics of the gaze, whereby the revenants demand from the living an acknowledgment of and justice for the dead. Finally, I turn to an analysis of spectral presences using Derrida’s notion of ‘hauntology’. In a move that echoes Derrida’s own ethical injunction and call for responsibility and justice, Répertoire offers a compelling and nuanced portrayal of death, grief, and mourning, even as it raises vital questions about our relationship with the other, the past, and the future
Art · Art history · Humanities · Literature · Repertoire · Sociology · Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning · Diverse Cultural and Historical Studies · History · Migration and Exile Studies
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |