Ruritanian Romps: Kitsch Sentiment and Style

Abstract

The article claims a cycle of British Ruritanian romps as exemplarily kitsch in both scenario and mise-en scène, identifying a number of recurrent thematic and aesthetic motifs. Furthermore, drawing on commentary provided by Gillo Dorfles, Hermann Broch and Ludwig Giesz, the article argues that Ruritanian films qualify as kitsch by way of their imitation of literary sources. Ruritania may be regarded as a decoy for British geo-political anxieties, substituting for any number of Balkan aliases, and as an escapist deflection of domestic concerns. The article discusses Anthony Hope as founding father of Ruritania and Noël Coward’s 1926 The Queen Was in the Parlour (filmed in 1927) as a self-consciously derivative case study.

Keywords

• kitsch
• nostalgia
• Hope Anthony
• Coward Noël
• ruritanian romps