LFU:online

Institut für Amerikastudien Institut für Amerikastudien

Gastprof. Ph.D. Michael Scott Curtis Gastprof. Ph.D. Michael Scott Curtis

610013

American Film, Media and Culture: Film Theory, or The Death of Cinema

SE 2

7,5

wöch.

semestral

Englisch

To familiarize students with the relationship between media and culture, especially as that relationship manifests itself in discussions about the nature of the medium.

Contemporary film theory seems to be wrestling with “the death of cinema" in a variety of ways: by reexamining the materiality of the medium in the light of the putative cause of its demise (the digital image); by rethinking the connection between screen and spectator in terms of the (mortal) body; or by ruminating on pastness and the tinge of death as a specific characteristic of the medium. Yet, if we look closely, these have been themes in film theory since the early twentieth century. (Maybe cinema has always been dying.) This course offers a survey of film theory by selecting particular topics in contemporary theory and then tracing them through classical texts. Specifically, it reads classical theory in the light of present concerns about the nature of the photographic image, embodied spectatorship, and the relationship between stillness and movement in cinema. Under the premise that we can learn more about contemporary theory by returning to its roots, this course presents a selective overview of classical and contemporary theories that speak to each other about the cinematic image, movement, and, of course, death.

Reading and writing assignments, screenings, discussions, presentations

Active participation, presentation, research paper

Anmeldevoraussetzung/en im MA: postive Beurteilung des Pflichtmoduls 4 Anmeldungsvoraussetzung im Diplom- und Lehramtsstudium: Abgeschlossener 1. Abschnitt Entspricht im Diplomstudium (343): SE2: American Literature/Culture Entspricht im Lehramtsstudium (344): SE2: American Literature and Culture

13.03.2013