Film Theory and Criticism by
Since publication of the first edition in 1974, Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen's Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings has been the most widely used and cited anthology of critical writings about film. Now in its eighth edition, this landmark text continues to offer outstandingcoverage of more than a century of thought and writing about the movies.
Understanding Film Theory by
This book addresses a very real gap in existing introductory texts that define, explore, and apply key theoretical concepts within the field of film studies.'
Alison L. McKee, Assistant Professor, Department of Television-Radio-Film-Theatre, San Jose State University, USA
'This is the book that film students have long been waiting for: a clear, well-written and accessible introduction to film theory. Lucid theoretical exposition and case study film analysis offer readers the most intelligible summary of theory that I have yet encountered.'
Paul Sutton, Head of Media, Culture and Language, Roehampton University
Film theory has a reputation for being difficult. It is challenging, it takes time and it can frequently leave students feeling inadequate and frustrated. Furthermore, theory can often seem intimidating and oldfashioned and therefore it can be difficult to appreciate its modern-day relevance. Understanding Film Theory aims to disassociate theory from these negative connotations and bring a fresh, modern and accessible approach to the discipline. Each of the fifteen chapters provides an insight into the
main areas of debate by introducing key ideas and thinkers. Taking the application of theory as its central theme, the book incorporates a number of exciting and innovative features: 'Reflect and Respond' sections encourage readers to engage critically with theoretical concepts, while seminal texts are concisely summarized without oversimplifying key points.
America on Film by
America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexualityin the Movies, 2nd Edition is a lively introduction toissues of diversity as represented within the American cinema.
Provides a comprehensive overview of the industrial,socio-cultural, and aesthetic factors that contribute to cinematicrepresentations of race, class, gender, and sexuality
Includes over 100 illustrations, glossary of key terms,questions for discussion, and lists for furtherreading/viewing
Includes new case studies of a number of films, includingCrash, Brokeback Mountain, and Quinceañera
Theories of Authorship by
The film director or `auteur' has been central in film theory and criticism over the past thirty years. Theories of Authorship documents the major stages in the debate about film authorship, and introduces recent writing on film to suggest important ways in which the debate might be reconsidered.
The Monstrous-Feminine by
In almost all critical writings on the horror film, woman is conceptualised only as victim. In The Monstrous-Feminine Barbara Creed challenges this patriarchal view by arguing that the prototype of all definitions of the monstrous is the female reproductive body.
With close reference to a number of classic horror films including the Alien trilogy, The Exorcist and Psycho, Creed analyses the seven `faces' of the monstrous-feminine: archaic mother, monstrous womb, vampire, witch, possessed body, monstrous mother and castrator. Her argument that man fears woman as castrator, rather than as castrated, questions not only Freudian theories of sexual difference but existing theories of spectatorship and fetishism, providing a provocative re-reading of classical and contemporary film and theoretical texts.
‘The Uncanny’ by
The uncanny is the psychological experience of something as not simply mysterious, but creepy, often in a strangely familiar way.[1] It may describe incidents where a familiar thing or event is encountered in an unsettling, eerie, or taboo context.[2][3]
Ernst Jentsch set out the concept of the uncanny later elaborated on by Sigmund Freud in his 1919 essay Das Unheimliche, which explores the eeriness of dolls and waxworks.[4] For Freud, the uncanny locates the strangeness in the ordinary
Auteurs and Authorship by
Auteurs and Authorship: A Film Reader offers students an introductory and comprehensive view of perhaps the most central concept in film studies. This unique anthology addresses the aesthetic and historical debates surrounding auteurship while providing author criticism and analysis in practice.
‘Realism and film by
This groundbreaking study engages with the theoretical aspects of realism - a long neglected area in film studies.. Contributes to an understanding of how popular films use realist forms to address contentious social and political issues such as social exclusion, war and violence.. Focusing on key moments in film history the authors examine the uses of realism in national cinemas as a context for their in-depth analysis of contemporary popular films.. A series of case studies examines the hybrid styles of realism used in recent filmmaking practice and the politics of these forms in relation to topics such as urban youth and domestic violence (Boyz N the Hood, La Haine, Once Were Warriors, Ladybird, Ladybird, Nil By Mouth), government conspiracies and war (Cry Freedom, JFK, Schindler's List), and serial killers (Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer, Man Bites Dog, Natural Born Killers).. Will give rise to new directions in the theorisation of both popular film and realism in the cinema.
Cinema Studies by
Now in its sixth edition, this essential guide for students provides accessible definitions of a comprehensive range of genres, movements, world cinemas, theories and production terms. This fully revised and updated book includes new topical entries that explore areas such as film and the environmental crisis; streaming and new audience consumption; diversity and intersectionality; questions related to race and representation; the Black Lives Matter movement; and New Wave Cinemas of Eastern European countries. Further new entries include accented/exilic cinema, border-cinema, the oppositional gaze, sonic sound and Black westerns. Existing entries have been updated, including discussion of #MeToo, and more contemporary film examples have been added throughout. This is a must-have guide for any student starting out on this fascinating area of study and arguably the greatest art form of modern times.
World Cinema by
'The contributors supply skilful overviews of the major critical approaches' Sight and Sound May 1998international coverage ranges from pre-1930s Europe to contemporary 'Bollywood' musicalsfirst class range of contributors from North America, Europe, Australia and Asiamany chapters specially commissionedemphasis throughout on critical concepts, methods and debateslearning aids include chapter summaries, critiques of individual films and further readingThis text is an ideal course companion for undergraduate students studying film, media studies, cultural studies and literary theory. It is especially relevant to 2nd and 3rd year students taking options in World cinema, European cinema, and the impact of changing technologies.
‘Seen from the Window’ in Rhythmanalysis by
Rhythmanalysis displays all the characteristics which made Lefebvre one of the most important Marxist thinkers of the twentieth century. In the analysis of rhythms -- both biological and social -- Lefebvre shows the interrelation of space and time in the understanding of everyday life.With dazzling skills, Lefebvre moves between discussions of music, the commodity, measurement, the media and the city. In doing so he shows how a non-linear conception of time and history balanced his famous rethinking of the question of space. This volume also includes his earlier essays on "The Rhythmanalysis Project" and "Attempt at the Rhythmanalysis of Mediterranean Towns."
The Philosophy of Tim Burton by
Director and producer Tim Burton impresses audiences with stunning visuals, sinister fantasy worlds, and characters whose personalities are strange and yet familiar. Drawing inspiration from sources as varied as Lewis Carroll, Salvador Dalí, Washington Irving, and Dr. Seuss, Burton's creations frequently elicit both alarm and wonder. Whether crafting an offbeat animated feature, a box-office hit, a collection of short fiction, or an art exhibition, Burton pushes the envelope, and he has emerged as a powerful force in contemporary popular culture. In The Philosophy of Tim Burton, a distinguished group of scholars examines the philosophical underpinnings and significance of the director's oeuvre, investigating films such as Batman (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), The Nightmare before Christmas (1993), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Big Fish (2003), Sweeney Todd (2007), Alice in Wonderland (2010), and Dark Shadows (2012). The essays in this volume explore Burton's distinctive style, often disturbing content, and popular appeal through three thematic lenses: identity, views on authority, and aesthetic vision. Covering topics ranging from Burton's fascination with Victorian ideals, to his celebration of childhood, to his personal expression of the fantastic, the contributors highlight the filmmaker's peculiar narrative style and his use of unreal settings to prompt heightened awareness of the world we inhabit. The Philosophy of Tim Burton offers a penetrating and provocative look at one of Hollywood's most influential auteurs.
What Is Film Theory? by
This engaging and accessible book explores major debates in contemporary film theory, providing a detailed introduction to the central arguments advanced by film theorists since the 1960s.
What is Film Theory? outlines the discipline's key theoretical concepts, perspectives, and traditions, and critically examines the assertions posited by exemplary film theorists and philosophers of film. A step-by-step approach to these issues guides the reader through the central topics of film theory.
Beginning with a discussion of structuralism and semiotics, and moving through debates on psychoanalysis, feminism, Screen theory, and cultural studies, the authors then examine the perspectives of 'post-theory', cognitivism, and historical poetics, as well as recent developments such as audience research and the 'cinema of attractions'.
Analysis of the major theories is supported with detailed and wide-ranging case studies of particular films, including Singin' in the Rain, The Searchers, Tout va bien, Jaws, Do the Right Thing, Brokeback Mountain, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. These case studies are accompanied by a series of illustrative film and production stills.
What is Film Theory? is indispensable reading for all students of Film and Media Studies, as well as for general readers interested in the debates which have defined film theory.
Film - Genre by
This book revises our notions of film genre and connects the roles played by industry critics and audiences in making and re-making genre. Altman reveals the conflicting stakes for which the genre game has been played and recognises that the term genre has different meanings for different groups.
John Paizs's Crime Wave by
John Paizs's 'Crime Wave' examines the Winnipeg filmmaker's 1985 cult film as an important example of early postmodern cinema and as a significant precursor to subsequent postmodern blockbusters, including the much later Hollywood film Adaptation. Crime Wave's comic plot is simple: aspiring screenwriter Steven Penny, played by Paizs, finds himself able to write only the beginnings and endings of his scripts, but never (as he puts it) "the stuff in-between." Penny is the classic writer suffering from writer's block, but the viewer sees him as the (anti)hero in a film told through stylistic parody of 1940s and 50s B-movies, TV sitcoms, and educational films. In John Paizs's 'Crime Wave,' writer and filmmaker Jonathan Ball offers the first book-length study of this curious Canadian film, which self-consciously establishes itself simultaneously as following, but standing apart from, American cinematic and television conventions. Paizs's own story mirrors that of Steven Penny: both find themselves at once drawn to American culture and wanting to subvert its dominance. Exploring Paizs's postmodern aesthetic and his use of pastiche as a cinematic technique, Ball establishes Crime Wave as an overlooked but important cult classic.
Media Analysis Techniques by
Media Analysis Techniques, Third Edition begins by examining four techniques of media interpretation that the author considers critical for creative people to acknowledge if they are to understand how their creations translate to the real world. The coverage of these four techniques-semiotic theory, psychoanalytic theory, Marxist theory, and sociological theory-have been expanded in this edition to include myth and media, race and representation, and the importance of narratives in media. The book then moves on to vividly link popular culture to these four theories. Written in an accessible style that demystifies complex concepts, Media Analysis Techniques includes a glossary, study guides, and the author's own illustrations. The book is an excellent supplementary textbook for courses on media research methods as well as many other courses in Mass Communications.
Film Art: an Introduction by
Film is an art form with a language and an aesthetic all its own. Since 1979, David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson and now, Co-Author, Jeff Smith's Film Art has been the best-selling and most widely respected introduction to the analysis of cinema. Taking a skills-centered approach supported by examples from many periods and countries, the authors help students develop a core set of analytical skills that will enrich their understanding of any film, in any genre. In-depth examples deepen students' appreciation for how creative choices by filmmakers affect what viewers experience and how they respond. Film Art is generously illustrated with more than 1,000 frame enlargements taken directly from completed films, providing concrete illustrations of key concepts. Along with updated examples and expanded coverage of digital filmmaking, the twelfth edition of Film Art delivers SmartBook, first and only adaptive reading experience currently available, designed to help students stay focused, maximize study time and retain basic concepts.
Film Theory and Criticism by
Since publication of the first edition in 1974, Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen's Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings has been the most widely used and cited anthology of critical writings about film. Now in its eighth edition, this landmark text continues to offer outstandingcoverage of more than a century of thought and writing about the movies.
Film Theory and Contemporary Hollywood Movies by
Film theory no longer gets top billing or plays a starring role in film studies today, as critics proclaim that theory is dead and we are living in a post-theory moment. While theory may be out of the limelight, it remains an essential key to understanding the full complexity of cinema, one that should not be so easily discounted or discarded.
In this volume, contributors explore recent popular movies through the lens of film theory, beginning with industrial-economic analysis before moving into a predominately aesthetic and interpretive framework. The Hollywood films discussed cover a wide range from 300 to Fifty First Dates, from Brokeback Mountain to Lord of the Rings, from Spider-Man 3 to Fahrenheit 9/11, from Saw to Raiders of the Lost Ark, and much more. Individual essays consider such topics as the rules that govern new blockbuster franchises, the 'posthumanist realism' of digital cinema, video game adaptations, increasingly restricted stylistic norms, the spatial stories of social networks like YouTube, the mainstreaming of queer culture, and the cognitive paradox behind enjoyable viewing of traumatic events onscreen.
With its cast of international film scholars, Film Theory and Contemporary Hollywood Movies demonstrates the remarkable contributions theory can offer to film studies and moviegoers alike.
Theorizing the Moving Image by
A selection of essays written by a leading film critic, this 1996 volume examines theoretical aspects of film and television through penetrating analyses of such genres as soap opera, documentary, comedy, and such topics as 'sight gags', film metaphor, point-of-view editing, and movie music. Throughout, individual films are considered in depth. Carroll's essays, moreover, represent the cognitivist turn in film studies, containing in-depth criticism of existing approaches to film theory.
Film Theory Goes to the Movies by
Film Theory Goes to the Movies fills the gap in film theory literature which has failed to analyze high-grossing blockbusters. The contributors in this volume, however, discuss such popular films as The Silence of the Lambs, Dances With Wolves, Terminator II, Pretty Woman, Truth or Dare, Mystery Train, and Jungle Fever.
They employ a variety of critical approaches, from industry analysis to reception study, to close readings informed by feminist, deconstructive and postmodernist theory, as well as recent developments in African American and gay and lesbian criticism. An important introduction to contemporary Hollywood, this anthology will be of interest to those involved in the fields of film theory, literary theory, popular culture, and women's studies.
The Cinema Book by
No Marketing Blurb
Gender, Race, and Class in Media by
From gender issues in Desperate Housewives, to race in Ugly Betty, gender biases in video games, and portrayals of the American family in Extreme Makeover, to analyzes of new genres like fandom and social media - no other book is so successful in engaging students in critical media scholarship. By encouraging students to critically analyze those media they already interact with for pleasure, and by editing the articles, Gail Dines and Jean Humez are able to make sophisticated concepts and theories accessible and interesting to undergraduate students.
Cultural Studies Reader by
The Cultural Studies Readeris the ideal introduction for students. A revised introduction explaining the history and key concerns of cultural studies brings together important articles by leading thinkers to provide an essential guide to the development, key issues and future directions of cultural studies. This fully updated third edition includes: 36 essays including 21 new articles An editor's preface succinctly introducing each article with suggestions for further reading Comprehensive coverage of every major cultural studies method and theory An updated account of recent developments in the field Articles on new areas such as culture and nature and the cultures of globalization New key thinkers such as CLR James, Gilles Deleuze, Antonio Negri and Edward Said, included for the first time The Cultural Studies Readeris designed to be read around the world and deals with issues relevant to each continent
A Critical and Cultural Theory Reader by
The Critical and Cultural Theory Reader is an introduction to the key readings in cultural theory. It guides students through the tradition of thought, from Saussure's early writings on language to contemporary commentary on world events by theorists such as Baudrillard and Zizek. The second and expanded edition of this highly successful Reader reflects the growing diversity of the field and includes thirteen new essays. Divided into six thematic sections: Semiology; Ideology; Subjectivity; Difference; Gender and Race, and Postmodernism, the Reader features an editors' introduction to the volume, introductions to each of the thematic sections as well as invaluable summaries of each of the extracts.
Film Theory: An Introduction Through the Senses by
What is the relationship between cinema and spectator? This is the key question for film theory, and one that Thomas Elsaesser and Malte Hagener put at the center of their insightful and engaging book, now revised from its popular first edition. Every kind of cinema (and every film theory) first imagines an ideal spectator, and then maps certain dynamic interactions between the screen and the spectator's mind, body and senses. Using seven distinctive configurations of spectator and screen that move progressively from 'exterior' to 'interior' relationships, the authors retrace the most important stages of film theory from its beginnings to the present--from neo-realist and modernist theories to psychoanalytic, 'apparatus,' phenomenological and cognitivist theories, and including recent cross-overs with philosophy and neurology. This new and updated edition of Film Theory: An Introduction through the Senses has been extensively revised and rewritten throughout, incorporating discussion of contemporary films like Her and Gravity, and including a greatly expanded final chapter, which brings film theory fully into the digital age.
The Film Theory Reader by
"An excellent collection of provocative and compelling debates, expertly and elegantly arranged. Essays new and old form a dynamic and accessible portrait of ideas foundational to contemporary thinking about film. This book is sure to inspire." Haidee Wasson, Concordia University, Montreal "Marc Furstenau retraces the most important issues in film theory, and makes them interact with the current debate on cinema and post-cinema. A historical legacy becomes a living source - and the site of a passionate debate." Francesco Casetti, Catholic University of Milan and Yale University. The Film Theory Reader brings together a range of key theoretical texts, organized thematically to emphasise the development of specific critical concepts and theoretical models in the field of film theory. Each section presents well-known or significant texts, which have introduced a particularly influential concept, followed by texts that have developed or extended the concept, or that have offered explicit critiques or arguments against the original model. The collection thus represents and reproduces the debates and arguments that have shaped the theoretical landscape of film studies, guiding the reader through the complex terrain of theoretical debate, and offering suggestions for further reading and research. An Introduction from the editor contextualises the essays and provides a logical guide to the book, clarifying the links between articles and tracing the development of key arguments. The notes to the Introduction include extensive references, for readers to explore and further their own studies, as they are guided through the history of debate in film theory. #65533;
Freud Reader by
Freudian thought permeates virtually every aspect of 20th century life. To understand Freud is to explore not only his scientific papers but also his vivid writings on art, literature, politics, religion and culture. THE FREUD READER is the first single-volume work to bring together in accessible form Freud's ideas as a scientist, humanist, doctor and philosopher. It contains fifty-one key texts, spanning Freud's entire career from early case histories through his work on dreams, essays on sexuality, and on to his late writings, including CIVILIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS.
Reinventing Film Studies by
This anthology of specially-commissioned essays introduces the film student to some of the central questions and debates that have concerned the development of film studies. Written by a team of noted scholars, the collection focuses on issues that confront us today, assessing the impact on the discipline of recent technological, cultural, and social developments; challenging received thinking, and reinventing film studies for the post-film era. In each of five thematic sections, early essays open up key problems, issues, and debates while a case study offers concrete examples of what various approaches can deliver. Covering all major topics and fully up-to-date, this reader will be a key text for all serious undergraduate and graduate students who want to understand where film is going in its second century.
The Cinema of Raúl Ruiz by
Raúl Ruiz, while considered one of the world's most significant filmmakers by several film critics, is yet to be the subject of any thorough engagement with his work in English. This volume sets out on this task by mapping, as fully as possible, Ruiz's cinematic trajectory across more than five decades of prolific work, up to his death in 2011; ranging from his earliest work in Chile to high-budget 'European' costume dramas culminating in Mysteries of Lisbon (2010). It does so by treating Ruiz's work--with its surrealist, magic realist, popular cultural, and neo-Baroque sources--as a type of 'impossible' cinematic cartography, mapping real, imaginary, and virtual spaces, and crossing between different cultural contexts, aesthetic strategies, and technical media. It argues that across the different phases of Ruiz's work identified, there are key continuities such as the invention of singular cinematic images and the interrogation of their possible and impossible combinations.
Inventing Film Studies by
Inventing Film Studies offers original and provocative insights into the institutional and intellectual foundations of cinema studies. Many scholars have linked the origins of the discipline to late-1960s developments in the academy such as structuralist theory and student protest. Yet this collection reveals the broader material and institutional forces--both inside and outside of the university--that have long shaped the field. Beginning with the first investigations of cinema in the early twentieth century, this volume provides detailed examinations of the varied social, political, and intellectual milieus in which knowledge of cinema has been generated. The contributors explain how multiple instantiations of film study have had a tremendous influence on the methodologies, curricula, modes of publication, and professional organizations that now constitute the university-based discipline. Extending the historical insights into the present, contributors also consider the directions film study might take in changing technological and cultural environments.
Inventing Film Studies shows how the study of cinema has developed in relation to a constellation of institutions, technologies, practices, individuals, films, books, government agencies, pedagogies, and theories. Contributors illuminate the connections between early cinema and the social sciences, between film programs and nation-building efforts, and between universities and U.S. avant-garde filmmakers. They analyze the evolution of film studies in relation to the Museum of Modern Art, the American Film Council movement of the 1940s and 1950s, the British Film Institute, influential journals, cinephilia, and technological innovations past and present. Taken together, the essays in this collection reveal the rich history and contemporary vitality of film studies.
Representation by
Since 1997 Representation has been the key go-to textbook for students learning the tools to question and critically analyze institutional and media texts and images. This long-awaited Second Edition: . update and refreshes the approach to theories of representation by signalling key developments in the field . addresses the emergence of new technologies and formats of representation, from the internet and the digital revolution to reality TV . includes an entirely new chapter on celebrity culture and personalisation, to debates about representation and democracy, and involve illustrations of an intertextual nature, cutting across various technologies and formats in which 'the real' or the authentic makes an appearance . offers new exercises, new readings, new images and examples for a new generation of students This book will once again prove an indispensible resource for students and teachers in cultural and media studies.
Communication, Cultural and Media Studies by
Now in its fifth edition, this pioneering volume of Routledge's 'Key Guides' series offers clear explanations of key concepts, showing where they came from, what they are used for and why they provoke discussion or disagreement. The new edition is extensively revised to keep pace with rapidly evolving developments in communication, culture and media, providing topical and authoritative guidance to transformational shifts from broadcast to digital technologies, national to global media and disciplinary to diverse knowledge. It includes: Nearly 250 entries, covering what and how to study across this multi-disciplinary field; 50 new entries: from algorithm and assemblage, dance and data, to woke and worldbuilding; Updated references with 500 items and suggestions for further reading; Revisions, updates and examples throughout. For students and seasoned scholars alike, Communication, Cultural and Media Studies is an invaluable resource in an ever-changing landscape.
The Oxford Guide to Film Studies by
Comprehensive, authoritative, and unique, The Oxford Guide to Film Studies is the up-to-date critical volume on the theories, debates, and approaches to the study of film. A host of international experts provide an overview of the main disciplinary approaches to film studies, an explanation ofthe main concepts and methods involved in film analysis, a survey of the main issues and debates in the study of film, and critical discussion of key areas.The Guide features:* Comprehensive coverage suitable for any course on cinema or film studies* Organized into three sections: Approaches; Hollywood and the World; World Cinema* An emphasis throughout on critical concepts, methods, and debates* Specially commissioned chapters on such varied topics as film music, the Hollywood Star System, and the idea of national cinema* Coverage dedicated to important new areas in film studies: gay and lesbian criticism, postcolonial theory, audience studies, post-classical Hollywood cinema, and cultural studies* Chapters discussing exciting new developments in classical topics, such as Early Hollywood Cinema, Film History, and the avant-garde* Illustrated throughout, and complete with `readings' designed to demonstrate the variety of theoretical approaches, chapter headings and summaries, guides to further reading, and `highlight' quotesWith its uniquely comprehensive coverage, The Oxford Guide to Film Studies is an indispensable aide and reference source for the student of film and media, and anyone interested in the study of cinema.
Film Studies by
'The contributors supply skilful overviews of the major critical approaches' Sight and Sound, May 1998covers all the significant theories, debates and approaches to the subjectchapter authors are international expertsemphasis throughout on critical concepts, methods and debatesincludes material from important new fields such as film audiences and reception, queer theory, film and psychoanalysis, and poststructuralist approachescontains learning aids such as chapter summaries, critiques of individual films, and lists of further readingThis text is the most up-to-date critical guide to the study of film. It is an ideal course companion for undergraduates taking courses in film criticism and textual analysis, and for students taking course options in gender, race and sexuality in film.
The Film Studies Reader by
Ranging from the mass culture critics to postcolonial and queer theory, this text is an introduction to the main theoretical approaches within film studies. It includes primary sources such as extracts from key critics and offers a general introduction and chapter introductions that put the extracts in historical context, explaining their contributions to the debates in film studies. Contributors include Tom Gunning, Steven Cohan, Janet Staiger, James Naremore, Jim Kitses, Carol Clover, and Jane Gaines.
Approaches to Popular Film by
An invaluable introduction to popular film and the way in which it is studied, this book brings together the critical approaches and issues that have sought to define popular film from the 1950s to the present day.
Postmodernism, or, the cultural logic of late capitalism by
He seeks here to crystallize a definition of a term which has taken on so many meanings that it has virtually lost all historical significance. He presents an extensive discussion on the cultural landscape - both 'high' and 'low' of postmodernity, evaluating the political fortunes of the new term and surveying postmodern developments in a range of different fields from market ideology to architecture, from painting and instalment art to contemporary punk film, from video art and high literature to deconstruction.
Finally, Jameson revaluates the concept of postmodernism in light of postmodern critiques of totalization and historical narratives from the notion of decadence to the dynamics of small groups, from religious fundamentalism to hi-tech science fiction while touching on the nature of contemporary cultural critique and the possibilities of cognitive mapping in the present multinational world system. This provocative book will be fundamental to all future discussions of postmodernism.
Cultural Politics by
Glenn Jordan and Chris Weedon look at the role of culture in reproducing and contesting social relations of class, gender and race. They focus on relationships between culture, subjectivity, and power, in what is the first comprehensive introduction to contemporary cultural politics. * Whose culture shall be the official one and whose shall be subordinated? * What cultures shall be regarded as worthy of display and which shall be hidden? * Whose history shall be remembered and whose forgotten? * What images of social life shall be projected and which shall be marginalized? * What voices shall be heard and which shall be silenced? * Who is representing whom and on what basis? * How can marginalized and oppressed people be empowered to change their social position? * What is cultural democracy and how can it be achieved? These key questions are among the radical issues Cultural Politics addresses, through case studies from Britain, North America, Eastern Europe and Australia.
‘Introduction: Hybrid moving images and the post-media conditions’ in Between Film, Video, and the Digital by
Encompassing experimental film and video, essay film, gallery-based installation art, and digital art, Jihoon Kim establishes the concept of hybrid moving images as an array of impure images shaped by the encounters and negotiations between different media, while also using it to explore various theoretical issues, such as stillness and movement, indexicality, abstraction, materiality, afterlives of the celluloid cinema, archive, memory, apparatus, and the concept of medium as such. Grounding its study in interdisciplinary framework of film studies, media studies, and contemporary art criticism, Between Film, Video, and the Digital offers a fresh insight on the post-media conditions of film and video under the pervasive influences of digital technologies, as well as on the crucial roles of media hybridity in the creative processes of giving birth to the emerging forms of the moving image. Incorporating in-depth readings of recent works by more than thirty artists and filmmakers, including Jim Campbell, Bill Viola, Sam Taylor-Johnson, David Claerbout, Fiona Tan, Takeshi Murata, Jennifer West, Ken Jacobs, Christoph Girardet and Matthias Müller, Hito Steyerl, Lynne Sachs, Harun Farocki, Doug Aitken, Douglas Gordon, Stan Douglas, Candice Breitz, among others, the book is the essential scholarly monograph for understanding how digital technologies simultaneously depend on and differ film previous time-based media, and how this juncture of similarities and differences signals a new regime of the art of the moving image.
Film Theory by
Film theory: an introduction offers a highly readable account of film theory and is an indispensable resource for students. The discussion ranges from the late 1960s to the present, a period in which a number of conceptual strands, notably politics, semiotics and psychoanalysis were woven together in an ambitious synthesis.In this book, the authors chart the construction of this synthesis and its subsequent fragmentation, and clearly explain the various intellectual currents which have contributed to it. Divided into two parts, the first covers the conceptual background of film theory, dealing with historical materialism, semiotics and psychoanalysis, whilst in the second the authors concentrate on particular topics such as authorship, narrative, realism, the avant-garde and postmodernism.For this new edition, the authors have added a new foreword, a fully updated and expanded bibliography, and a 60-page Retrospect outlining developments within film theory since the book's original publication in 1988. This Retrospect identifies a number of broad readings of Theory, each with a different perspective on the main content of the book. As such, it provides a new and original mapping of the 'post-theory' moment in this complex and often fractured terrain.Accessible and authoritative, this book is essential reading for students of film theory, or indeed anyone seeking a deeper understanding of modern cinema.
Fifty Key Contemporary Thinkers by
Thisnbsp;revised secondnbsp;edition from our bestselling Key Guides includes brand new entries onnbsp;some of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth- and twenty-first century: Zizek, Bergson, Husserl, Heidegger, Butler and Haraway.
With a newnbsp;introduction by the author, sections on phenomenology and the post-human, full cross-referencing and up-to-datenbsp;guides to major primary and secondary texts, this is an essentialnbsp;resource to contemporary critical thought for undergraduates and the interested reader.
‘Poison at the Box Office’ in Todd Haynes: Interviews by
A pioneer of the New Queer Cinema, Todd Haynes (b. 1961) is a leading American independent filmmaker. Whether working with talking dolls in a homemade short (Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story) or with Oscar-winning performers in an HBO miniseries (Mildred Pierce), Haynes has garnered numerous awards and nominations and an expanding fan base for his provocative and engaging work. In all his films, Haynes works to portray the struggles of characters in conflict with the norms of society. Many of his movies focus on female characters, drawing inspiration from genres such as the woman's film and the disease movie (Far from Heaven and Safe); others explore male characters who transgress sexual and other social conventions (Poison and Velvet Goldmine). The writer-director has drawn on figures such as Karen Carpenter, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Bob Dylan in his meditations on American and British music, celebrity, and the meaning of identity. His 2007 movie I'm Not There won a number of awards and was notable for Haynes's decision to cast six different actors (one of whom was a woman) to portray Dylan. Gathering interviews from 1989 through 2012, this collection presents a range of themes, films, and moments in the burgeoning career of Todd Haynes.
Political Animals by
Female filmmakers are hitting the headlines. The last five years have witnessed: the first Best Director Academy Award won by a woman; women filmmakers emerging from Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Iran, South Korea, Japan, Paraguay, Uruguay, Burkina Faso and Kenya; the first stirrings of a 'trans cinema', with the release of films that represent transgender characters and their experiences, challenging our understanding of gender and identity; feminist porn screened at public festivals; and Pussy Riot's online documentation of offline activism sending shockwaves around the world. Political Animals argues that a new wave of feminist cinema is speaking to a new audience hungry for intersectional accounts of women in the public sphere that are missing in the mainstream. It reveals how innovative production and distribution strategies are responding to urgent political situations (resulting in colourful guerrilla aesthetics exemplified in the rough, D.I.Y, online videos made by Pussy Riot, but equally found in recent documentaries and features by established filmmakers too) and tunes in to the transnational, transgenerational conversations that are taking place between filmmakers such as Sally Potter, Claire Denis, Barbara Hammer, Mania Akbari, Haifaa al-Mansour, Emily Jacir, Andrea Arnold and Clio Barnard. Courageous and complex, the new feminist cinema is a political animal that, while laying claim to the public sphere as its own, refuses to be domesticated by it.
Lesbian and Gay Studies by
The 25 chapters in this book are organized according to the key debates in the field of lesbian and gay studies, and are envisaged both as introductory overviews and critical reflections of these issues. The essays within this volume are designed to raise debate concerning how lesbian and gay studies has contributed to and changed the identity of traditional disciplines, and shaped new areas of study such as the body, performativity and sexual politics.
A Companion to Film Theory by
This volume of specially commissioned work by experts in the fieldof film studies provides a comprehensive overview of the field. Itsinternational and interdisciplinary approach will have a broadappeal to those interested in this multifaceted subject.
Visual and Other Pleasures by
A new edition of Laura Mulvey's groundbreaking collection of essays, originally published in 1989. In an extensive introduction to this second edition, Mulvey looks back at the historical and personal contexts for her famous article Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema , and reassesses her theories in the light of new technologies.
Genre and Contemporary Hollywood by
This wide-ranging text is one of the first to look in detail at some of the principal genres, cycles and trends in Hollywood's output during the last two decades. It includes analysis of such films as Sense and Sensibility, Grifters, The Mask, When Harry Met Sally, Pocahontas, Titanic, Basic Instinct, Coppola's Dracula, and Malcolm X.
Film Theory: An Introduction by
Providing a collection of some of the most provocative and influential writings of film theory in the past thirty years, this anthology aims to provide a polylogue among theorists, deprovincializing the subject. Film Theory multiplies the perspectives and positions, the situations and locations, from which film theory is spoken.
Film and Theory: An Anthology, by
This anthology offers a collection of some of the most provocative and influential writings of film theory from the 1960s and 1970s, along with new directions from the last two decades. An introductory essay to the volume sums up developments in film theory from the beginning up through the 1980s, while introductions to specific groupings of essays summarize debates on those issues. Rather than look at film theory in terms of schools and allegiances, the editors investigate questions and problematics: What is the cinema? What is the cinematic apparatus? How do spectators differ in their desires? What is realism? Is realism desirable? Thus psychoanalysis, reception theory, cognitive theory, race theory, and feminism all provide partially valid answers to the question: What does the spectator want? This anthology's goal is to facilitate a polylogue among the theorists who have ignored or maligned one another and to deprovincialize film theory. Film Theory multiplies the perspectives and positions, the situations and locations, from which film theory is spoken.
Cultural Theory and Popular Culture by
The fifth edition of John Storey's successful Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader is an essential companion volume to Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction, now in its eighth edition. The reader offers students the opportunity to experience first-hand the theorists and critics discussed in Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction through crucial articles and essays spanning over a hundred years of cultural theory. It can be used both in conjunction with, and independently of, the textbook. Taken as a whole, this book provides a theoretical, analytical, and historical introduction to the study of popular culture and provides key primary coverage of fundamental issues in cultural studies. This edition includes: a new section on class, as well as additional readings on sexuality and gender; fully revised general and section introductions from the editor, contextualizing and linking the readings with key issues from the textbook; a fully updated bibliography. The new edition is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of cultural studies, media studies, communication studies, the sociology of culture, popular culture, and other related subjects.
Cultural Theory and Popular Culture by
In this ninth edition of his award-winning introduction, John Storey presents a clear and critical survey of competing theories of, and various approaches to, popular culture. Its breadth and theoretical unity, exemplified through popular culture, means that it can be flexibly and relevantly applied across a number of disciplines. Retaining the accessible approach of previous editions and using appropriate examples from the texts and practices of popular culture, this new edition remains a key introduction to the area. New to this edition: updated throughout with contemporary examples of popular culture revised and expanded sections on Richard Hoggart and Utopian Marxism brand new discussions on Black Lives Matter and intersectionality updated student resources at www.routledge.com/cw/storey This new edition remains essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of cultural studies, media studies, communication studies, the sociology of culture, popular culture and other related subjects.
An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture by
An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture is widely recognized as an immensely useful textbook for students taking courses in the major theories of popular culture. Strinati provides a critical assessment of the ways in which these theories have tried to understand and evaluate popular culture in modern societies.
Among the theories and ideas the book introduces are: mann culture, the Frankfurt School and the culture industry, semiology and structuralism, Marxism, feminism, postmodernism and cultural populism.
This new edition provides fresh material on Marxism and feminism, while a new final chapter assesses the significance of the theories explained in the book.
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