Geography of the Body: Jean Epstein’s Poetics and Conceptualization of the Body in his Unpublished Writings

• Authors: Daniel Pitarch Fernández
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Jean Epstein wrote many books during his life, but some of them were left unpublished. This unpublished corpus is of significant importance to understand his work and thinking. In this essay I address three of these books: Ganymède (a book on male homosexual ethics), Contre-pensées (Counter-Thoughts), a compilation of short essays on a wide variety of topics), and L’autre ciel (The Other Heaven), a literary work. My main purpose is to better understand a major motif in Epstein’s thought: the human body. These writings show how his interest in physiology was profound and very important during his whole life, and how he always emphasized the material side of any psychology, identity, or thought. Secondly, they address the topic of artificiality and humanity. Epstein claims that what is specifically human is to evolve through specialization and reification, even if it were against nature. And thirdly, they fully disclose the inherent sensuality of some Epstein texts (for instance his descriptions of close ups); one of the major subjects of L’autre ciel is male homoeroticism. These unpublished writings shed new light on Epstein’s film writings and must be considered in order to do a complete account of his work and thought.

Keywords

EN

Jean Epstein’s writings; film theory; body; sensuality

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Film and Media Studies
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 49-63

Dates

published

2013-11-01

online

2014-05-30

Contributors

author

Daniel Pitarch Fernández

• Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona

References

• Epstein, Jean. 1918-20. Caritas Vitae. Paris: Fonds Jean et Marie Epstein, Bibliothèque du film, EPSTEIN284-B88. [unpublished] Epstein, Jean. 1921a. La Poésie d’aujourd’hui, un nouvel état d’intelligence [The Poetry of Today, a New State of Intelligence]. Paris: Éditions de la Sirène.
• Epstein, Jean. 1921b. Bonjour cinéma [Good Morning Cinema]. Paris: Éditions de la Sirène.
• Epstein, Jean. 1921c. [bibliography]. Paris: Fonds Jean et Marie Epstein, Bibliothèque du film, EPSTEIN201-B51. [unpublished] Epstein, Jean. 1921d. Esculape. Paris: Fonds Jean et Marie Epstein, Bibliothèque du film, EPSTEIN228-B59. [unpublished] Epstein, Jean. 1922. La Lyrosophie [Lyrosophy]. Paris: Éditions de la Sirène.
• Epstein, Jean. 1926. Le Cinématographe vu de l’Etna [The Cinema Seen from the Etna]. Paris: Les Écrivains Réunis.
• Epstein, Jean. 1930-40. Ganymède [Ganymede]. Fonds Jean et Marie Epstein, Bibliothèque du film, Paris, EPSTEIN227-B59. [unpublished] Epstein, Jean. 1946. L’Intelligence d’une machine [The Intelligence of a Machine]. Paris: Éditions Jacques Melot.
• Epstein, Jean. 1947. Le cinéma du Diable [The Devil’s Cinema]. Paris: Jacques Melot.
• Epstein, Jean. 1950. Le monde fluide de l’écran. Les Temps modernes, no. 56 (June): 145-158.
• Epstein, Jean. 1955. Esprit de cinéma [The Spirit of Cinema]. Geneva: Éditions Jeheber.
• Epstein, Jean. 1998a [1921]. Le phénomène littéraire. In Jean Epstein. Cinéaste, poète, philosophe [Jean Epstein. Filmmaker, Poet, Philosopher], ed. Jacques Aumont, 39-83. Paris: Cinémathèque Française, Musée du cinéma.
• Epstein, Jean. 1998b [1922]. Nous Kabbalistes [We Kabbalists]. In Jean Epstein. Cinéaste, poète, philosophe, ed. Jacques Aumont, 119-24. Paris: Cinémathèque Française, Musée du cinéma.
• Epstein, Jean. Non dated. L’autre ciel [The Other Heaven]. Paris: Fonds Jean et Marie Epstein, Bibliothèque du film, EPSTEIN229-B89. [unpublished] Epstein, Jean. Non dated. Contre-pensées [Counter-Thoughts]. Paris: Fonds Jean et Marie Epstein, Bibliothèque du film, EPSTEIN224-B57 or EPSTEIN103-B25, EPSTEIN104-B25, and EPSTEIN105-B26. [unpublished]
• Gordon, Rae Beth. 2009. Dances with Darwin, 1875-1910. Vernacular Modernity in France. Farnham and Burlington: Ashgate.
• Keller, Sarah and Jason N. Paul, eds. 2012. Jean Epstein. Critical essays and new translations. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
• Liebman, Stuart. 1980. Jean Epstein’s Early Film Theory: 1920-22. PhD Dissertation. New York: New York University.
• Pitarch, Daniel. 2009. Estetas neurasténicos y máquinas fatigadas en la teoría de Jean Epstein [Neurasthenic Aesthetes and Weary Machines in the Theory of Jean Epstein]. Archivos de la Filmoteca. no. 63: 37-55.
• Tognolotti, Chiara. 2003. Jean Epstein, 1946-1953. Ricostruzione di un cantiere intellettuale [Reconstruction of an Intellectual Construction]. PhD Dissertation. Firenze: UniFi.
• Wall-Romana, Christophe. 2012. Epstein’s Photogénie as Corporeal Vision: Inner Sensation, Queer Embodiment, and Ethics. In Jean Epstein. Critical essays and new translations, eds. Sarah Keller and Jason N. Paul, 51-71. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/ausfm-2014-0014