Writing assignment

The ​Return of Martin Guerre ​(1982, 113 minutes)

The Return of Martin Guerre​, directed by Daniel Vigne, and starring Gérard Depardieu, is a filmic adaptation of the 1983 book of the same name by the renowned historian, Natalie Zemon Davis. The movie’s storyline is based on historical events. While doing research in the French archives, Zemon Davis came upon a 16​th​-century account of Martin. However, the records contained minimal details. To bring the story to life, Zemon Davis carefully reconstructed the historical context around his life. She used methods associated with an approach to history called “microhistory.” Some of these methods include:

● Privileging​ “ego documents”​ (first-hand accounts) to explore historical actors’ experiences. ● Tracking clues through multiple sources to ​discover hidden connections​, like a sleuth following every lead to its

smallest detail to see where those details unexpectedly collide. ● Reconstructing ​webs of social networks​.

Microhistorians believe that looking at largescale historical trends often distorts or mutes the particularities of individual experiences. Instead, they focus on what local examples can teach us about larger historical trends, building from the particular to the general. Often the local cases they explore, like Martin Guerre, are outliers - the exceptions to the rule - but the outliers’ experiences can teach us something about the society in which they lived and loved. Assignment PART 1:

A. As you watch the film, think about how it represents the ways faith and authority shape the lives of the main characters, Bertrand and Martin. In what people, institutions, and/or forces (sacred or natural) do Bertrand, Martin, and the people around them place their faith?

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A. Analyze three examples where each of the following occur in the film: a. Characters are obedient to or conform to the expectations of some type of authority.

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a. Characters find subtle or subversive ways, which might be seen as disobedient or challenging to authority, that accommodate their personal needs.

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a. Characters actively and overtly resist an authority.

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A. After​ ​completing the film, fill out the worksheet on the next page.

PART 2:

Curating the Self: the Ethics of Identity Think about the ways you might perform different identities in various contexts. Fill out the two different wheels below, thinking about how social and personal identities (the two different wheels) might relate to each other: Social Identities Wheel:

Personal Identities Wheel: Final Question: What similarities/distinctions do you find between yourself and the characters in the film? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________