Fall 1997
Here, the day women rule will be the end of the
world.
What harm in caring for a woman her husband deserted?
GO TO PRODUCTION INFORMATION ABOUT
THE RETURN OF
MARTIN GUERRE (1982)
"I give you my body": Marriage is an
institution through the agency of which males can acculumlate property,
relations, and power Charivari: The marriage, in all its
aspects, is a public issue and not a private one. (On public and private
see Naiman, Ch. 7 and C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite |
note the ceremonial use of the marriage bed Belief, Organized and Not: When
Martin cannot produce an heir, note the range of religious address to the
social problem--address both formally organized and traditional/informal:
from the playful symbolic castration to the ancient wisdom of the old hag,
to the invocation of the notion of "evil thoughts," to ritual whipping and
prayer. The Bourgeois Mind: "C'est moi
maintenant qui a charge de l'affaire," says de Coras, who has travelled to
Artigat from Toulouse, the local town and market. He is representative of
the King, of the Parliament (the official Speaking: parlement). Though
the film gives an intense depiction of the character of events--both
present and remembered--as being local and
personal-dramatic, de Coras' presence re-identifies all events as
public and state-controlled. Stolen Grain: "While I'm alive," says
the father, fighting Martin over the issue of stolen grain, "I'm the
master here." (Implied: when he dies, his mastership does not continue
legally through inheritance, but the strongest male on the premises can
take over. This is what the uncle does.) Male dominance through physical
and personal embodiment: not through bureaucratic legal definition of
identity but through charismatic and direct control. Melusine: Bertrande tells her baby
Sanxi the story of "Melusine the Flying Mermaid," a preposterous tale,
openly configured by the filmmaker as both story and
preposterous. The clue is thus dropped: watch stories and
story-making. There are local, crafted tales (the returning Martin's);
and there are state narratives (the one being constructed in the Parlement
by Jean de Coras and his colleagues). Dirty Beast!: Women were open to
violation and abuse unless they had the protection of men. Note the
attempted violation of Bertrande by the boy beneath the stairs (Martin's
cousin). Honneur: "J'ai gardé mon
honneur," says Bertrande to the administrators, as she gives testimony.
Is the honour she guarded--or failed to guard--in fact hers to possess, to
claim, to benefit from? Accounts: Identity is a product of a
narrative, socially sanctioned and substantiated. [See "Melusine,"
above.] But there are evidentiary boundaries in tale-telling: the pieces
must fit, and there are socially negotiated rules of fit. We use accounts
to cover bad fit. "You've grown, Martin!" says the uncle in surprise.
"War does that," replies 'Martin.' Later: "You learned to
read?"--"Yes, and to write, too." And: "You didn't drink as much
before." Changes detected can be cast (a) as the result of the
man's adventure; or (b) as reason to suspect him of fakery. What
social forces lead to one interpretive strategy rather than
another? Expertise in evaluating evidence,
discerning bad evidence, poking at evidence to test it, and so on, is part
of what is learned in a culture as we are socialized. How significant is
it, then, that the initial tale called, "Martin Guerre Has Returned" is
broadcast (reported) to the community by a child? "Je l'ai vu!" he calls.
"Je l'ai vu!!!" Further, the drunken celebration scene shows the
intoxicated state of mind of the community: a state of mind ready,
perhaps, to receive certain narratives as "real." The Uncle's view of
stories: "Don't believe tales told by strangers." "I am Your Father.": "Come close to
me, I am your father," says 'Martin' nicely to Sanxi. How is this
different from, "I am your father, come close to me"??? Negotiating Identity: 'Martin' needs
to establish himself. He (a) kneels to his uncle; (b) says he knows his
parents are dead, and that he prayed for them; and (c) gives all show of
accepting the uncle's power. [Regarding narrative, keep in mind that all
of what 'Martin' can say to the uncle and others is information he has in
fact learned from a story told to him--a story he in fact believed.]
Note carefully that although this 'husband' needs to negotiate his
husbandry with Bertrande, it is nevertheless Bertrande who kneels to
him, accepting his return. It is the men of the town, then, who
control identity, inheritance, social order. Expertise: Note the production and
demand for expertise in laying identification: the priest, the cobbler,
the wetnurse, the wife. Experts have access to bounded provinces of
knowledge. Experts called in this film also have relative social
standing, and it is interesting to see the relative weight accorded
testimonies of varying experts.
Accountings: "You worked my land and
I'm grateful," says 'Martin' to the Uncle, "but it made a profit." Note
that the beginning of the uncle's official socially sanctioned "doubt"
about 'Martin'--indeed the origin of the transformation of Martin into
'Martin'--is the younger man's economic threat to the uncle. "You ask me
for an accounting! I welcomed you back! ... I warn you, Martin or
not-Martin, you won't get away with it!" Sin: "You will scream but no one will
hear you," says the priest to Bertrande, warning her of what the Church
says will happen if this man is not her real husband. Ultimately, at the
conclusion of the film, when her "real" husband is returned, she does
"scream", and nobody hears her. Note significant role of priest in
maintaining social control Actors Equity: The meaning of
narrative and performance is not inherent but is socially structured: the
tales that the power structure values gain social and public value. Note
in this light that the uncle gives a performance, which is
manifestly insincere (to us), in luring Martin into the barn to be
assaulted. The uncle doesn't mind fictions, then, as long as he is
perpetrating them. The problem with the "Martin Guerre" tale is that it
is not a tale the uncle is telling, and only children (i.e. the socially
powerless) sit to listen to other people's tales. The Church and Politics: When Jean de
Coras divides the community into two political factions--according
to their differential readings of the central tale--the priest stands
apart, saying, "Je suis le curé de tous." Does the priest in
fact exemplify a position outside politics on the Martin Guerre issue,
or does he merely claim to? Benefits: "Why should I pretend to be
someone else?" the man called 'Martin' asks Jean de Coras. "Pour avoir
une maison et une femme," is the answer. What is the status, prestige,
power and structural position that falls to people who can claim to "have"
a home and a wife in this society? What is a Woman?: Jean de Coras
informs Bertrande: "Women are the victims of men's wickedness. That's why
we acquitted you."
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