Emotional investments: Contemporary Polish romantic comedy and neoliberalism

• Authors: Elżbieta Ostrowska
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The author of the article argues that neoliberalism, along with its attendant economic and social ideas, has affected romantic comedy’s politics of emotion and consequently its narrative and formal strategies. The article analyzes two recent romantic comedies, Nigdy w życiu (Never Again in My Life, dir. Ryszard Zatorski, 2004) and Listy do M. (Letters to Santa, dir. Mitja Okorn, 2011) as exemplifying neoliberal “adjustments” of Polish romantic comedy, specifically employing the conventions typical of family movies. The author claims that generic hybridity of Polish romantic comedy is facilitated by the central position of family in the Polish socio-cultural discourse, whereas simultaneously the use of family-movie conventions serves the purpose of enlarging the target audience and, thus, maximizing the financial return. As Never Again in My Life and Letters to Santa demonstrate, proper management of individual emotions is necessary in order to invest one’s human capital with a low risk. Hence, instead of a union of two people leading to the emergence of a nuclear family, neoliberal romance comes into fruition in a corporation-like environment.

Keywords

EN

romantic comedy; neoliberalism; family film; Polish cinema; romance; emotions

PL

komedia romantyczna; neoliberalizm; kino familijne; kino polskie; romans; emocje

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wroclawskiego
• Journal: Literatura i Kultura Popularna
• Year: 2018
• Volume: 24
• Pages: 143 - 153

Contributors

author

Elżbieta Ostrowska

• University of Alberta, Edmonton