AUDIOVISUALIZATION OF CABARET CULTURE IN SILENT FILMS OF THE 1900s–1920s

Abstract

This article is based on a presentation delivered at the 51st Ludmila Verbitskaya International Philological Conference. The study explores the phenomenon of audiovisualization of cabaret culture in silent films of the 1900s to 1920s, examining how it conveyed the concept of the tape to viewers. Notably, there have been no Russian studies dedicated to examining the influence of cabaret on early cinema. In contrast, Western film critics have predominantly focused on the role of cabaret performers, perceiving early cinema as an art form characterized by hysteria, a logical extension of cabaret and its various forms of entertainment. This paper aims to demonstrate, however, that the inclusion of cabaret poses and gestures in films was intentional, serving to enhance the viewing experience and reflect upon the socio-cultural phenomena of the turn of the century, as well as to provide a means of exposing mores through a distinct gestural neurotic system. The research findings indicate that early cinema, particularly films featuring cabaret dances, functioned as polycode texts, accumulating blocked or previously experienced memories through actions and images. It can be argued that the tendency and attraction to the primitive, which was popular in the 1910s and 1920s, first manifested itself in the grassroots dances and was audiovisually expressed through dance movements. The cancan initially incorporated a pathological gestural language, which later became associated with regression in the context of its convergence with African dances, mesmeric practices, and quack discourse.