Of Elephants and Toothaches: Ethics, Politics, and Religion in Krzysztof Kieslowski's 'Decalogue'

Eva Badowska; Francesca Parmeggiani

Open Access Published by Fordham University Press 2016

Of Elephants and Toothaches

Ethics, Politics, and Religion in Krzysztof Kieslowski's 'Decalogue'

Eva Badowska and Francesca Parmeggiani

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780823267125

Overview
Contents

About this book

A multi- and interdisciplinary collection of essays addressing ethical, political and aesthetic questions raised in the ten-film cycle Decalogue (1989) by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski.

Author / Editor information

Badowska Eva :

Eva Badowska is Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Fordham University. Her publications include articles on Victorian fiction (in PMLA and Victorian Literature and Culture), feminist theory (in Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature), psychoanalytic theory (in The Psychoanalytic Review) and Polish poetry (in Parnassus: Poetry in Review). She is now working on a book entitled Kieslowski in Theory and History.Parmeggiani Francesca :

Francesca Parmeggiani is Associate Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature at Fordham University. Her research focuses on contemporary Italy, women’s writing, and cinema. She is the author of Lo spessore della letteratura (Longo, 2007), a study of the fictional adaptations of scripture by Italian writers in the 1960s and 1970s, and the co-editor of Forme, volti e linguaggi della violenza nella cultura italiana (Edibom, 2012), an essay collection on the representation of violence in Italian culture. Her articles have appeared in Annali d’Italianistica, Cahiers d’études italiennes, Italica, Italianistica, and Romance Languages, among other venues.

Reviews

...a buffet of stimulating—yet nourishing—dishes on Kieslowski’s masterwork.

—John Caruana:
This volume is true to the spirit of open engagement in relation to matters of ultimate concern. In their introduction, the editors cite a quote from Kieslowski that wonderfully expresses this openness: 'Both the deep believer and the habitual skeptic experience toothaches in exactly the same way. I always try to speak about toothaches--always. If I am successful in talking about toothaches, I think everyone will understand me.' Indeed, this collection as a whole speaks to this experience of 'toothaches' that afflicts us all. Like Kieslowski himself, the various contributors of this collection are willing to grope in the dark as they explore some of the most fundamental but uncharted facets of the human condition.

—Paul Coates:
“This is a strong and timely collection that fills a gap in the existing English-language scholarship on a very significant work, and the important issues it raises.”

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Introduction: “Within unrest, there is always a question” Eva Badowska and Francesca Parmeggiani Open Access Download PDF	1
Chapter 1. Rules and Virtues: The Moral Insight of The Decalogue William Jaworski Open Access Download PDF	15
Chapter 2. Tablets of Stone, Tablets of Flesh: Synesthetic Appeal in The Decalogue Open Access Download PDF	30
Chapter 3. Decalogue One: Witnessing a Responsible Ethics of Response from a Jewish Perspective Open Access Download PDF	51
Chapter 4. Visual Reverberations: Decalogue Two and Decalogue Eight Open Access Download PDF	80
Chapter 5. Remember the Sabbath Day, to Keep It Holy: Decalogue Three Joseph W. Koterski Open Access Download PDF	95
Chapter 6. Decalogue Four: The Mother up in Smoke, or “Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother” Gabriella Ripa di Meana Open Access Download PDF	108
Chapter 7. Decalogue Five: A Short Film about Killing, Sin, and Community Michael Baur Open Access Download PDF	122
Chapter 8. States of Exception: Politics and Poetics in Decalogue Six Open Access Download PDF	140
Chapter 9. Decalogue Seven: A Tale of Love, Failing Words, and Moving Images Open Access Download PDF	165
Chapter 10. Decalogue Eight: Childhood, Emotion, and the Shoah Open Access Download PDF	181
Chapter 11. Divine Possession: Metaphysical Covetousness in Decalogue Nine Open Access Download PDF	197
Chapter 12. Laughter Makes Good Neighbors: Sociability and the Comic in Decalogue Ten Open Access Download PDF	216
Acknowledgments Open Access Download PDF	231
Contributors Open Access Download PDF	233
Index Open Access Download PDF	237

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Fordham University Press
Pages
- Main content: 256
Keywords: Biblical intertext; Decalogue; dialogue; ethics in film; Embodied experience; film cycle; Krzysztof Kieslowski; moral unrest

eBook

Published: June 15, 2016
ISBN: 9780823267125