From repetition to theory

The article tries to answer the question of what are the reasons for the emergence of repetition as a sustainable cultural practice. The need for it is derived first of all from the fact that culture is a phenomenon that is not inherited biologically, and therefore in the process of its transmission from generation to generation its norms must be constantly recalled and updated. Hence the need for each new idea to be legitimized as inherited from tradition. However, in the epoch of modern literature and culture, which raises the individual-creative 37principle as its main principle, this need for repetition is a paradox. And especially a manifestation of repetition, known as a remake. Moreover, the definition of this phenomenon is based not simply on the development of sustainable motifs and plots, but on their processing in previous works of art, building a specific fund of culture, which the German researcher Elizabeth Frenzel defined with the term Stoff. To find an answer to this paradox, the article analyzes two typical cases: The two film adaptations of Indro Montanelli’s novel “Il Generale della Rovere” made by Roberto Rossellini in 1959 and Carlo Carlei in 2011, on the one hand, and on the other – the famous novel quatrain of Thomas Mann “Joseph and his brothers”, written on a famous biblical story. As a result of the analysis of these typical cases, the article comes to the answer to the question what is the function of repetition in culture. On the one hand, it aims to bring the existing order of problematization and revaluation in line with the needs of the changing social environment. On the other hand, pointing to the ancient roots of the developed motif, repetition provides identity and continuity of the world. And the phenomenon of remake, as a child of the postmodern era, introduces a very effective rule: Let us not be deceived that our way of seeing and appreciating the world is the only right one. It is much better to compare different ways, which provides a much more reliable basis for free moral judgment, while preserving the stability and identity of the world.

Repetition and imitation are an integral part of the development of knowledge and civilization. The paper “The Remake – Between Imitation and Creativity“ researches the genealogy and history of the practices of repetition and renovation in art history, as well as their application in a broader context in other fields. The paper discuses practices of remake in different arts – Its motives, techniques and functions. The questions about the essence of a remake are conceptualized through the prism of the antinomies original-copy, original-forgery, imitation, borrowing, and creativity. Issues of authenticity and authorship are discussed as well.

In the first part of this paper, I juxtapose film practices such as remakes and adaptations in their dual quality of processes and products. I trace the origin and meanings of the first concept, its appearance and de- velopment as a cinemstic activity and its theoretical elaboration through studies of G. Sadoul, T. Gunning, T. Leitch, C. Verevis, J. Forrest, A. Williams et al. I highlight conceptually and with examples the difference between the two phenomena and defend the need to distinguish them, regardless of their similarities. In the second part, I discuss the network of related formats for reworking film products and their role in popular culture. Keyword

The text focuses on the concept of lifestyle and the contemporary techniques for its construction. It traces the transition from Anthony Giddens’ concept of lifestyle (based on the reflective project of the Self) to the new forms of constructing the project for oneself with the help of the Internet and new technologies. The digital individuality is experienced as a fiction – everyone wants to be different, precisely because everyone is the same. At the same time, however, the search for uniqueness is achieved only through familiar, infinitely repeated forms. Today’s lifestyle is inevitably a combination of real and virtual elements, in which novelty is achieved through constant repetition and “improvement“ of what already exists.

This text reviews today’s commonplace creative strategy of remixing and one of its products – Remix. To clarify its nature, it is jux- taposed with the concepts of ‘remake’, ‘cover’ and ‘remix’ (lower case). The historic development of remix is traced and its becoming a driver of culture’s re-creation in the 21st century.