Refiguring American film genres : history and theory / Nick Browne, editor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Browne, Nick, Author.

Contributor:

Browne, Nick.

American Council of Learned Societies.

Series:

ACLS Humanities E-Book.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Film genres--United States.

Film genres.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 326 p. ) ill. ;

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, Calif. : University of California Press, c1998.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This collection of essays by leading American film scholars charts a whole new territory in genre film criticism. Rather than assuming that genres are self-evident categories, the contributors offer innovative ways to think about types of films, and patterns within films, in a historical context. Challenging familiar attitudes, the essays offer new conceptual frameworks and a fresh look at how popular culture functions in American society. The range of essays is exceptional, from David J. Russell's insights into the horror genre to Carol J. Clover's provocative take on "trial films" to Leo Braudy's argument for the subject of nature as a genre. Also included are essays on melodrama, race, film noir, and the industrial context of genre production. The contributors confront the poststructuralist critique of genre head-on; together they are certain to shape future debates concerning the viability and vitality of genre in studying American cinema.

Contents:

Reusable packaging: generic products and the recycling process / Rick Altman

Melodrama revised / Linda Williams

World War II and the Hollywood "war film" / Thomas Schatz

Lounge time: postwar crises and the chronotype of film noir / Vivian Sobchak

"Democracy and burnt cork": the end of blackface, the beginning of civil rights / Michael Rogin

Genre anxiety and racial representation in 1970s cinema / George Lipsitz

Monster roundup: reintegrating the horror genre / David J. Russell

"God bless juries!" / Carol J. Clover

The genre of nature: ceremonies of innocence / Leo Braudy.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-520-91855-X

0-585-27292-1

OCLC:

1419789387

Publisher Number:

2027/heb08139 hdl