Dr Julia Vassilieva
- BA (Hons.), DPsych
- Assistant Lecturer
- Contact details
- Full Curriculum Vitae
(PDF)
Background
Julia Vassilieva has a background in cultural studies, philosophy and psychology. She was educated in Russia and Australia. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Moscow State University, Professional Doctorate from Swinburne University and is currently working on a PhD at the Centre for Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies at Monash University, exploring narrative theories. Her association with cinema studies dates back to her research activity in Russia, which centred on the theoretical heritage of S.M. Eisenstein and led to the publication of some of his pivotal texts. She has published in such journals as International Journal of the Humanities; Senses of Cinema; Rouge and Cinema Studies – the leading forum of cinema scholars in Russia.
Research Interests
My research interests include: Russian classic and contemporary cinema; Eastern-European cinema and cinema of the former Soviet republics; Russian criticism, spanning from Russian formalism and M.Bakhtin to more recent and controversial theorising such as that of M.Epstein and B.Groys and history of film criticism in general. Focusing on Russian and Eastern-European cinema I engage with such issues as history and memory, identity and otherness, while the interaction of art and politics provides a larger framework for my analysis. I am particularly interested in the following questions: how the geo-political changes in Europe following the fall of the Berlin wall and disintegration of the Eastern bloc were reflected in films and television; how Russian and Eastern –European cinema deals with the traumatic inheritance of the twentieth century, particularly the effect of totalitarianism; how the changes in censorship and degree of freedom of speech have affected Russian and Eastern-European cinematic production; which new themes, genres and discourses dominate at the moment the cultural scene there; to which degree the cultural development in that part of the word shares and participates in global cultural trends; how old discourses, such as the religious one acquire new meaning and functions in the changed historical and political context and how this is reflected in cinema.
Selected Publications
“Life Times 4, or: Postmodernism à la Russe” – Rouge, (10), 2007
Looking at the controversial film 4 (2005) by a young Russian director Ilya Khrzhanovsky, this article explores the issues Russian culture and mentality are dealing with following the collapse of the USSR and the reforms of Perestroika: continuity and change, tradition and identity. It also addresses the question of global and local cultural trends: namely, has postmodernism migrated to Russia and colonised this new territory, or has it been harboured within the underground cultural development in Russia itself.
“Eisenstein and his Method – New Publications in Russia” – Senses of Cinema , Oct - Dec, 2006
This article focuses on the theoretical heritage of Sergei Eisenstein – the celebrated Russian director of the first half of the twentieth century and one of the most committed theoreticians of this medium. It outlines the major tenets of Eisenstein’s opus magnum Method : interaction of conscious and unconscious in the creation and perception of a work of art, the role of archetypes and sensuous thinking, and highlights the intersection of Eisenstein’s thought with psychoanalysis, semiotics and structuralism. The article argues that Eisenstein’s search for a unified theory of art is still relevant today in the context of ongoing debates of the status, role and function of aesthetic theory in general.
“First on the Moon” – Cinema Studies, October, 2007
This article was published in the leading Russian journal of cinema theory and offers a critique of 2005 Alexei Fedorchenko’s film First on the Moon. In a mock documentary format the film tells the story of an alleged successful expedition of Russian cosmonauts to the Moon in 1938. The article argues that this appeal to Soviet greatness of the past corresponds to the recent political developments in Russia, characterised by a curtailing of democratic reforms and toughening of the grip on power by the government. The article further demonstrates how the dominant aesthetic style of the totalitarian period in Russia, socialist realism, is re-used and re-cycled in order to reinforce the main patriotic and nostalgic message of the film.