Jeu Civilisation

[Marie Ota]

Thethirteen programmes in the series outline the history of Western art, architecture and philosophy since the Dark Ages. The series was produced by the BBC and aired from February to May 1969 on BBC2. Then, and in later transmissions in Britain, the US and other countries it reached an unprecedented number of viewers for an art series. Clark's book of the same title, based on the series, was published in 1969. Its production standards were generally praised and set the pattern for subsequent television documentary series. The New Yorker magazine described it as revelatory for the general viewer.

Clark had pioneered British television series about art, beginning in 1958, with Is Art Necessary?, an experimental series for Associated Television, a commercial broadcaster. Over the next eight years Clark wrote and presented series and one-off programmes on the visual arts, ranging from Caravaggio to Bruegel the Elder, Rembrandt, Goya, Van Gogh and Picasso, and a co-production for commercial television and the BBC, Royal Palaces.[1]

In 1966 David Attenborough, the controller of the BBC's new second television channel, BBC2, was in charge of introducing colour broadcasting to the UK, He conceived the idea of a series about great paintings as the standard-bearer for colour television, and had no doubt that Clark would be much the best presenter for it.[2] Clark was attracted by the suggestion, but at first declined to commit himself. He later recalled that what convinced him that he should take part was Attenborough's use of the word "civilisation" to sum up what the series would be about.[3]

The series consists of thirteen programmes, each fifty minutes long, written and presented by Clark, covering western European civilisation from the end of the Dark Ages to the early twentieth century. As the civilisation under consideration excludes Graeco-Roman, Asian and other historically important cultures, a title was chosen that disclaimed comprehensiveness: Civilisation: A Personal View by Kenneth Clark. Clark later commented, "I didn't suppose that anyone would be so obtuse as to think that I had forgotten about the great civilisations of the pre-Christian era and the East. However, I confess the title has worried me. It would have been easy in the eighteenth century: Speculations on the Nature of Civilisation as illustrated by the Phases of Civilised Life in Western Europe from the Dark Ages to Present Day. Unfortunately, this is no longer practicable."[3] Although the series focused chiefly on the visual arts and architecture, there were substantial sections about drama, literature, music, philosophy and socio-political movements. Clark wanted to include more about law and philosophy, but "I could not think of any way of making them visually interesting."[5]

After initial mutual antipathy, Clark and his principal director, Michael Gill, established a congenial working relationship. They and their production team spent three years from 1966 filming in a hundred and seventeen locations in thirteen countries.[6] The filming was to the highest technical standards of the day, and quickly went over budget; it cost 500,000 by the time it was complete.[7] Attenborough rejigged his broadcasting schedules to spread the cost, transmitting each episode twice during the thirteen-week run.[8]

Clark tells of the sudden reawakening of European civilisation in the 12th century. He traces it from its first manifestations in Cluny Abbey to the Basilica of St Denis and finally to its high point, the building of Chartres Cathedral in the early 13th century.

Beginning at a castle in the Loire and then travelling through the hills of Tuscany and Umbria to the cathedral baptistry at Pisa, Clark examines the aspirations and achievements of the later Middle Ages in 14th century France and Italy.

Visiting Florence, Clark argues that European thought gained a new impetus from its rediscovery of its classical past in the 15th century. He visits the palaces at Urbino and Mantua and other centres of (Renaissance) civilisation.

Clark talks of the harmonious flow and complex symmetries of the works of Bach, Handel, Haydn, and Mozart and the reflection of their music in the architecture of the Rococo churches and palaces of Bavaria.

Clark discusses the Age of Enlightenment, tracing it from the polite conversations of the elegant Parisian salons of the 18th century to subsequent revolutionary politics, the great European palaces of Blenheim and Versailles, and finally Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

Belief in the divinity of nature, Clark argues, usurped Christianity's position as the chief creative force in Western civilisation and ushered in the Romantic movement. Clark visits Tintern Abbey and the Alps and discusses the landscape paintings of Turner and Constable.

The series was co-produced by Gill and Peter Montagnon; the cinematographer was Kenneth McMillan; original music was composed by Edwin Astley. Gill directed episodes 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 and 13. Montagnon directed episodes 2, 6, 7, 9, and co-directed episode 11 with Ann Turner, who also directed episode 4.[11]

The series was replayed on BBC Four and released in the Region 2 DVD area in 2005; a Region 1 set followed in 2006. The DVD release included a short interview with David Attenborough about the commissioning and production of the series.[12]

I hold a number of beliefs that have been repudiated by the liveliest intellects of our time. I believe that order is better than chaos, creation better than destruction. I prefer gentleness to violence, forgiveness to vendetta. On the whole I think that knowledge is preferable to ignorance, and I am sure that human sympathy is more valuable than ideology.[17]

The broadcaster Huw Weldon believed that Civilisation was "a truly great series, a major work ... the first magnum opus attempted and realised in terms of TV."[19] There was a widespread view among critics, including some unsympathetic to Clark's selections, that the filming set new standards. The series was described as "visually stunning" by critics on both sides of the Atlantic, including Paul B. Harvey in the US and Mary Beard in Britain.[15][20] In 2011 Jonathan Jones wrote in The Guardian of Civilisation's "sheer visual beauty ... the camerawork and direction ... rise to the poetry of cinema".[21]

The BBC announced in 2015 that it was to make a ten-episode sequel to Clark's series, to be called Civilisations (plural), with three presenters, Mary Beard, David Olusoga and Simon Schama. A co-production with PBS in the United States, it would not cover western European civilisation in the same detail, but would additionally cover Graeco-Roman and non-European cultures.[22] The series, reduced from the planned ten to nine episodes, was trailed in February 2018, with transmission starting on 1 March in the UK and 17 April in the US on PBS.[23]

The study of Classical Civilisation is concerned with the literature, thought and culture of Ancient Greece and Rome. Through the examination and contextualisation of literary works and the analysis of the main aspects of ancient history and art, you will develop a thorough knowledge of the classical world and a critical approach to Greek and Roman literature. All texts are studied in translation and no knowledge of Greek or Latin is required, but there are opportunities to study the languages at an introductory level.

If you want to acquire an understanding of the past and its influence; if you would like to engage with the mythology, poetic imagination, depth of thought and historical value of two civilisations that shaped the Western world; and if you enjoy literature, this may be the course for you.

The Department of Classics has a world-renowned reputation and courses are taught by academics at the top of their fields. Classical Civilisation offers you the opportunity to learn about the ancient world in a fun and friendly environment and learn not only about the past but also about its significance to the present. There are opportunities to participate in study tours and summer schools to classical sites for both credit and non-credit. The course is taught through a mixture of lectures and small-group seminars, which encourage lively discussion and the development of independent thinking. It is also possible to study abroad for a semester or a whole year.

Business, librarianship, museum work, publishing, teaching and theatre are some of the many fields recent graduates have entered. Recent graduates are working for companies as diverse as Smurfit Communications, Blackwell Publishing and the Gare St. Lazare Players. Students who opted to undertake further study have selected courses ranging from law and marketing to teacher training and international peace studies.

Over the four years you will develop a broad understanding of the classical world, primarily through its literature. You will move from introductory modules in history and literature and art in the first year to the study of specific authors, genres and themes in the second and third years. In your final year you will choose from a range of specialised options. All modules are taught by lectures and small-group seminars. A range of different assessment types (such as end-of-semester examinations, essays, seminar presentations and team projects, artefact studies and short commentaries on texts), is used to assess your progress, and a thesis is written in the final year.

In first year you will be introduced to the critical study of ancient history, literature, myth and religion, with a view to acquiring a comprehensive and interdisciplinary perspective on classical culture. There are approximately six hours of classes per week in first year. There is the option of taking an introductory module in either Greek or Latin. You will study:

In each of these two years you will take four or five modules which focus on specific authors (such as Homer, Virgil, Herodotus), genres (such as tragedy, comedy, philosophy) or themes (such as gender and sexuality, identity and self-image, human and other animals). In these modules you will analyse ancient texts both as literature and as gateways into culture and thought, discuss key themes of relevance to both the ancient and modern world, and refine your analysis of texts in their literary and cultural context through more specialised skills and methodologies. All the modules are taught through lectures and small-group seminars. You will explore, for example, how the Greeks and Romans saw themselves and other cultures; how they tried to make sense of the world around them through philosophy and religion; how they thought about politics and ideology, ethnicity and identity, life and death. You will also have the opportunity to engage in an independent creative project such as performance, literary translation, and reception of classical literature.

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