The Continental Philosophy of Film Reader

Description

The first collection of its kind, The Continental Philosophy of Film Reader is the essential anthology of writings by continental philosophers on cinema, representing the last century of film-making and thinking about film, as well as all of the major schools of Continental thought: phenomenology and existentialism, Marxism and critical theory, semiotics and hermeneutics, psychoanalysis, and postmodernism. Included here are not only the classic texts in continental philosophy of film, from Benjamin's "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" to extracts of Deleuze's Cinema and Barthes's Mythologies, but also the earliest works of Continental philosophy of film, from thinkers such as Georg Lukacs, and little-read gems by philosophical giants such as Sartre and Beauvoir. The book demonstrates both the philosophical significance of these thinkers' ideas about film, as well their influence on filmmakers in Europe and across the globe. In addition, however, this wide-ranging collection also teaches us how important film is to the last century of European philosophical thought. Almost every major continental European thinker of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries has had something to say-sometimes, quite a lot to say-about cinema: as an art form, as a social or political phenomenon, as a linguistic device and conveyor of information, as a projection of our fears and desires, as a site for oppression and resistance, or as a model on the basis of which some of us, at least, learn how to live. Purpose built for classroom use, with pedagogical features introducing and contextualizing the extracts, this reader is an indispensable tool for students and researchers in philosophy of film, film studies and the history of cinema.

Joseph Westfall is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Houston-Downtown, USA. He is the author of The Kierkegaardian Author (2007), co-editor of the forthcoming Foucault and Nietzsche (Bloomsbury 2017) and has written numerous articles and book chapters on topics in Continental philosophy, aesthetics, and the philosophies of literature and film.

The intellectually minded film world has been waiting for this anthology. Westfall's book does not only provide a comprehensive collection of texts essential in European philosophy of film or film aesthetics; it also succeeds in drawing a distinguishing line between continental and analytic philosophy of film, a line that used to be blurred. The book plausibly establishes the existence of continental philosophy of film as a distinct tradition. -- Thorsten Botz-Bornstein, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Gulf University, Kuwait This is a long overdue collection of readings which have shaped the trajectory of continental philosophy and film, from Eisenstein and Munsterberg to Frampton and Halberstam. Invaluable for teaching and as a research guide, this is the first volume to bring all these names together in this context, demonstrating the breadth of the field and the extraordinary contributions made by these thinkers to debates about film. -- Lucy Bolton, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, Queen Mary, University of London, UK This is the most complete compilation of European film-philosophers I have ever seen, and the selection features some of the most influential writings in the history of the discipline. I would love to have such a resource. -- Daniel Shaw, Professor of Philosophy, Lock Haven University, USA A superb selection of texts, as diverse as it is ambitious. If you are looking for the best thinking about cinema available in a single volume, it may be the one you're holding in your hands. -- Costica Bradatan, Professor of Humanities, Texas Tech University, USA Continental philosophy of film has long and fascinating history, one that has often been obscured or misunderstood. Its contribution to contemporary film theory is thus only now starting to be appreciated. Joseph Westfall's magisterial volume, the Continental Philosophy of Film Reader, marks a major milestone in our understanding of this rich tradition of philosophical reflection on cinema. His volume covers the entire history of the medium, from early theorists such as Canudo, Epstein, and Lukacs, lesser known texts by Malraux, Barthes, and Schefer, to contemporary thinkers such as Butler, Stiegler, and Agamben. With an authoritative Introduction, helpful summary texts for each author, and a host of new translations, this timely and impressive Reader provides an edifying and enlightening guide to the 'Continental' contribution to film theory. -- Robert Sinnerbrink, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Macquarie University, Australia Finally an anthology of continental philosophers on film! The Continental Philosophy on Film Reader has made a wealth of primary sources easily accessible for cross-reading, discerning trajectories, and tracing responses. Ending with postmodernism, this welcome historical anthology allows access to diverse formats from Simone de Beauvoir's defense of Brigit Bardot against criticism by other women in what today would be a blog to the chatty interviewee Michel Foucault rejecting films about known figures even if these are Continental philosophers. -- Silke Panse, Reader in Film, Art and Philosophy, University for the Creative Arts Canterbury, UK