Monuments Askew
An Elliptical History of the Factory of the Eccentric Actor

Maria Corrigan (Author)

9781978843028

Hardback, published 12 August 2025

180 pages, 30 B-W images
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.454 kg

Monuments Askew: An Elliptical History of the Factory of the Eccentric Actor presents a cultural history of the Factory of the Eccentric Actor (FEKS), an avant-garde collective of Ukrainian artists whose unique approach to monumental history generated a new kind of cinema for a modernizing Soviet era. Often lost in the shuffle of this period, FEKS’s vibrant and experimental cinematic output initiated a youthful and cheeky overhaul of Soviet revolutionary culture. Monuments Askew reveals the foundational role of this understudied group of artists-including Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg-and uses their own theoretical contributions to undo the “foundations” of our understanding of Soviet media and arts. As a counter to a solely cinema-focused conceptualization of this era, Corrigan develops a transnational media theory of eccentricity. Defining eccentric circles as warped, irregular orbits that force a realignment of centers, Monuments Askew shows how FEKS’s body of work inspires an eccentric realignment of the pillars of Soviet visual culture, and indeed of monumentality itself.
 

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Filmography
List of Abbreviations 
Introduction     
Eccentric Interlude: Kozintsev’
s Inner Movement
1. “
The Technique-Circus. The Psychology-Head over Heels”
: FEKS’
s First Somersault in Cinema
Eccentric Interlude: Trauberg Inside Out
2. The Devil’
s Wheel: The Flight from Center
Eccentric Interlude: Actors
3. FEKS’
s Overcoat and Eccentrism’
s Protagonist
Eccentric Interlude: Split
4. The Trickster: S.V.D. and Eccentrism’
s Counter-rebel  
Conclusion: Eccentric Archives     
Notes
Bibliography     
Index

Abbreviations ix
Introduction: Eccentrism as Method 1
Eccentric Interlude: Kozintsev’
s
Inner Movement 17
1 “
The Technique-Circus.
The Psychology-
Head
over Heels”
: FEKS’
s First Somersault in Cinema 25
Eccentric Interlude: Trauberg Inside Out 47
2 The Devil’
s
Wheel: The Flight from Center 57
Eccentric Interlude: Actors 71
3 FEKS’
s Overcoat and Eccentrism’
s Protagonist 79
Eccentric Interlude: Split 101
4 The Trickster: Eccentrism’
s Counter-Rebel
111
Conclusion: Eccentric Archives 124
Acknowledgments
127
Notes 129
Bibliography 145
Filmography 153
Index 000