Event time:
Tuesday, September 29, 2026 - 5:30pm
Location:
HQ 134
320 York Street
Event description:
For close to a century, it has been thought that Sergei Eisenstein made up the famous scene of the massacre on the Odesa Steps in Battleship Potemkin (USSR 1925). Magazine illustrations from 1905, initially published as eyewitness evidence of the mutiny depicted in the film, strongly suggest not only that he did not make it up, but that he relied on those illustrations in order to create his representation of the 1905 events. This paper investigates how those visual sources help us to read the great middle section of Potemkin, familiar in its formal contours, as both artistic composition and historical discourse.
John MacKay is Professor of Film and Media Studies and of Slavic Languages and Literatures and at Yale University. He teaches a wide variety of courses on literature, Russian culture, cultural theory, and film and moving image media. His current research interests include documentary and experimental film, early Soviet culture and its later reception, Marxist theory, the comparative and cross-linguistic study of film and media concepts, and the comparative study of the short story form.
John’s paper will be pre-circulated a few days in advance of the talk. To RSVP, and to receive the paper, please email michelle.chow@yale.edu. We hope to see you there!