Film and Cinema Spectatorship

Film and Cinema Spectatorship provides a clear and wide-ranging introduction to different debates and traditions of viewing cinema. In this new book, Jan Campbell offers a comprehensive account of the different theoretical perspectives on film and cinema spectatorship, situating these in their cultural and historical contexts. Among the perspectives covered are those of feminism, modernism and cultural studies, with chapters dedicated to important topics such as early film, stars and film aesthetics. Campbell also provides accessible explorations of the importance of key themes to film and cinema spectatorship, such as mimesis, melodrama, performance and time.

The timely and comprehensive text will be essential reading for anyone interested in debates on film theory, psychoanalysis and film, and the history of cinema. This book will be of special interest to students of film studies, media studies and cultural studies.

List of Illustrations.

Acknowledgements.

Introduction.

PART I: SEXUAL DIFFERENCE, FILM SPECTATORSHIP AND THE TEXT.

Introduction to Part I.

1. Sexual Difference, Melodrama and Film Theory.

2. The Sexual-Difference Spectator in Weimar Cinema.

3. Film Theory and the Visual Body.

PART II: THE EARLY FILM SPECTATOR.

Introduction to Part II.

4. Perception and Early Film.

5. Early Film Spectatorship.

PART III: AUDIENCES, STARS AND AESTHETICS.

Introduction to Part III.

6. Cultural Studies, Ethnography and the ‘Real’ Film Spectator.

7. Stars and Melodrama.

8. Film Aesthetics and Cultural Re-Memory.

Notes.

Index.

Jan Campbell is Senior Lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Birmingham. Film and Cinema Spectatorship provides a clear and wide-ranging introduction to different debates and traditions of viewing cinema. In this new book, Jan Campbell offers a comprehensive account of the different theoretical perspectives on film and cinema spectatorship, situating these in their cultural and historical contexts. Among the perspectives covered are those of feminism, modernism and cultural studies, with chapters dedicated to important topics such as early film, stars and film aesthetics. Campbell also provides accessible explorations of the importance of key themes to film and cinema spectatorship, such as mimesis, melodrama, performance and time.

The timely and comprehensive text will be essential reading for anyone interested in debates on film theory, psychoanalysis and film, and the history of cinema. This book will be of special interest to students of film studies, media studies and cultural studies.