sempozyum_bildiri_kitabi

THE “RE‐VISION” OF WOMEN’S LIFE NARRATIVES IN PHOTOGRAPHY
AND EARLY CINEMA
Małgorzata RADKIEWICZ *
In my presentation I would like to focus on the visual forms of women’s life narratives, reconstructed
in photography of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and in early cinema. Analysing
a selection of materials, I am going to use the term “re‐vision” which was created by the film theorist
Adrienne Rich to describe the process of re‐thinking and re‐creating ways of representing women in
visual culture: photography and cinema. In her book On Lies, Secrets and Silence (1979), Rich defined
the term of “re‐vision” as “the act of looking back, of seeing with fresh eyes”, and additionally, for
women “re‐vision” is “an act of survival”. 1 As such, the term “re‐vision” was used by feminist
theorists: Mary Ann Doan, Patricia Mellencamp and Linda Williams (1983) in the title of a collection
of essays on feminist film criticism. However editors and authors of essays extended the basic
definition of “re‐vision”, so it could refer to the project of shifting perspectives of studies from the
analysis of images of women to the analysis of modes organising and producing that image. As
Teresa de Lauretis (1997) argues, such a change in reflection on representation of women, is a
chance to realise and understand differences among women. And, in effect, to read or/ and to write
different histories of women.
In my paper, I would like to draw attention to two biographies, one of the American star Mary
Pickford (1892‐1979) and the second one of the Polish star Jadwiga Smosarska (1898‐1971), both of
whom I found to be the most emblematic – famous and successful actresses of their time. Although
each of them belongs to different cultural traditions, living in different political and social
circumstances, they both embodied the “New Woman” – independent, with knowledge and skills,
allowing them to live a professional life. As actresses, firstly in theatre, then in cinema, both Pickford
(first film role‐1909) and Smosarska (first film role 1919) achieved the height of success, being real
stars of their time – famous and celebrated.
Both film stars must be regarded in various contexts, created by, as Patrice Petro called it, “ ‘the
shock of the new’ in popular culture, the arts, and social practices [and in gender roles]”. 2 Talking
about Pickford and Smosarska’s biographies which are visualised in the photography and cinema of
the early 20th century, I would like to discuss the issue of gender and of women’s identity, and the
notion of the liberation of women achieved by that time 3 . All of them are addressed in the book of
Hillary A. Hallett (2013), tackling the development of early Hollywood under the telling title Go West,
Young Women! An encouraging slogan, indeed! Quoted by the author of the book, the slogan reflects
the dynamism of the processes of which this female scholar, researching the history of American
cinema, writes, showing this dynamism from both socio‐cultural and feminist perspectives.
American women cinemaniacs from the Big City
A part of Hallett’s considerations upon American women in Hollywood is the examination of
statistical data. Statistics show that the majority of the American population lived in towns and cities
in year 1920, where numerous surges of immigrants and people from rural areas had moved to. A
large number among these people were women seeking employment, education and modern living
conditions, facilitating their social advancement and emancipation.
*
Jagiellonian University - Kraków, Poland