Raphaël Prenovec
BackRépétitions jubilatoires
Each time, the people exult, rejoice, and celebrate the victory of good over evil. Marc Twain said, "History doesn't repeat itself, it rhymes." But then, what is the point of this jubilant repetition ? Do men and women truly learn the lessons of the past ? Could it be that the bursts of victorious rejoicing render the collective memory of peoples amnesiac? The evocation of the interwar period brings back scenes of jubilation and joy expressed by peoples freed from the yoke of the oppressor, but1
Each time, the people exult, rejoice, and celebrate the victory of good over evil. Marc Twain said, "History doesn't repeat itself, it rhymes." But then, what is the point of this jubilant repetition ? Do men and women truly learn the lessons of the past ? Could it be that the bursts of victorious rejoicing render the collective memory of peoples amnesiac?
The evocation of the interwar period brings back scenes of jubilation and joy expressed by peoples freed from the yoke of the oppressor, but also to the fun years of the Roaring Twenties, the 1930s and 1940s marked by Swing dances such as the Lindy Hop, the Jitterbug, the Jive and the Charleston. Fred Astaire was undoubtedly the most graceful partner dancer in the history of vaudeville, theater and cinema of that era and Guillaume Apollinaire one of the greatest poets of the early 20th century. Troubled by the Second World War, this popular enchantment of the interwar period did not last long. The American G.I.s were welcomed as liberating heroes. And once again, the peoples of Europe were won over by the intoxication of freedom and the eternal desire to put an end to war and oppression. The new victory will have brought a breath of hope or illusion of a better life, a new enthusiasm for celebration and shared joy. But what is the point of this jubilant repetition? Could it be the expression of an admission of powerlessness to achieve the essential or true happiness ? Even if it was sincere, can we reduce this collective enthusiasm to a passing, ephemeral, swift, precarious and fleeting parenthesis ? Have men and women neglected their happiness ? Have they forgotten the essential ? Would not the love deployed have made it possible to heal the ills of war and to definitively anchor in time the construction of a better world ? Symbolized by the passionate kiss in Times Square between a sailor and a nurse (August 14, 1945), if this love embodies for Americans the joy of "VJ Day" (Victory Over Japan Day), it is far from embodying that of a definitive peace. How can we not place it, too, in a logic of repetition of History ? As Karl Marx emphasized, "history repeats itself, first as a tragedy, then as a farce." And if, in the end, past efforts had been for nothing, if the suffering endured had not made an impression on minds and if love had not made it possible to avoid the worst, what is the point of these jubilant repetitions left by the images of the past ? How can we interpret the joy, yet real, expressed on the faces of victorious crowds or loving couples ? What kind of victory is it exactly ? Isn't history playing tricks on us ? Is it a farce?
The crucial question posed by the works in this series entitled "Jubilatory Rehearsals" is what meaning should be given to the repetitive scenes of jubilant peoples in the aftermath of devastating wars ? While they don't provide an answer, they give the viewer an opportunity to question the significance of the collective, victorious, and triumphant jubilation of the first half of the 20th century. They question the possibility of erasing past errors through fleeting moments of collective enchantment with no future. It is less the repetition of shared joys and kisses that raises questions than the repeated conflicts that always follow afterwards, to the point of calling into question the will of men and women to build their own happiness. What are we waiting for to be happy ?
The evocation of the interwar period brings back scenes of jubilation and joy expressed by peoples freed from the yoke of the oppressor, but also to the fun years of the Roaring Twenties, the 1930s and 1940s marked by Swing dances such as the Lindy Hop, the Jitterbug, the Jive and the Charleston. Fred Astaire was undoubtedly the most graceful partner dancer in the history of vaudeville, theater and cinema of that era and Guillaume Apollinaire one of the greatest poets of the early 20th century. Troubled by the Second World War, this popular enchantment of the interwar period did not last long. The American G.I.s were welcomed as liberating heroes. And once again, the peoples of Europe were won over by the intoxication of freedom and the eternal desire to put an end to war and oppression. The new victory will have brought a breath of hope or illusion of a better life, a new enthusiasm for celebration and shared joy. But what is the point of this jubilant repetition? Could it be the expression of an admission of powerlessness to achieve the essential or true happiness ? Even if it was sincere, can we reduce this collective enthusiasm to a passing, ephemeral, swift, precarious and fleeting parenthesis ? Have men and women neglected their happiness ? Have they forgotten the essential ? Would not the love deployed have made it possible to heal the ills of war and to definitively anchor in time the construction of a better world ? Symbolized by the passionate kiss in Times Square between a sailor and a nurse (August 14, 1945), if this love embodies for Americans the joy of "VJ Day" (Victory Over Japan Day), it is far from embodying that of a definitive peace. How can we not place it, too, in a logic of repetition of History ? As Karl Marx emphasized, "history repeats itself, first as a tragedy, then as a farce." And if, in the end, past efforts had been for nothing, if the suffering endured had not made an impression on minds and if love had not made it possible to avoid the worst, what is the point of these jubilant repetitions left by the images of the past ? How can we interpret the joy, yet real, expressed on the faces of victorious crowds or loving couples ? What kind of victory is it exactly ? Isn't history playing tricks on us ? Is it a farce?
The crucial question posed by the works in this series entitled "Jubilatory Rehearsals" is what meaning should be given to the repetitive scenes of jubilant peoples in the aftermath of devastating wars ? While they don't provide an answer, they give the viewer an opportunity to question the significance of the collective, victorious, and triumphant jubilation of the first half of the 20th century. They question the possibility of erasing past errors through fleeting moments of collective enchantment with no future. It is less the repetition of shared joys and kisses that raises questions than the repeated conflicts that always follow afterwards, to the point of calling into question the will of men and women to build their own happiness. What are we waiting for to be happy ?
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