A new publication by Susana Viegas is out now. The chapter “Uma história de esqueletos felizes: a Dança da Morte e o cinema”, from the book La Edad Media proyectada. El pasado medieval ibérico en la creación audiovisual en lenguas portuguesa y española (ed. Alicia Miguélez, Erika Loic e Felipe Brandi), has been published Iberoamericana/Vervuert.
How does medieval imagery shape contemporary views on mortality? In her latest chapter, Susana Viegas examines the Danse Macabre’s lasting influence on film, focusing on Danses macabres, squelettes et autres fantaisies (2019). Directors Rita Azevedo Gomes and Pierre Léon, alongside scholar Jean Louis Schefer, explore this haunting medieval tradition, where death is personified as a guiding force between life and the afterlife.
Viegas argues that films about the Middle Ages do more than revisit history—they, like the Danse Macabre, bridge time, thought, and storytelling. By highlighting the continued relevance of medieval imagery, Viegas underscores cinema’s role as both a lens into the past and a space for ongoing dialogue about mortality. For those interested in medieval studies, film theory, and the intersection of history and modern media, this chapter offers a thought-provoking exploration of how the past continues to resonate on screen.
More about the book here.
📸 Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie [1972], by Luis Buñuel, in Danses Macabres, Squelettes et Autres Fantaisies [2019], by Rita Azevedo Gomes, Pierre Léon and Jean-Louis Schefer
