Cultural theory in the films of Alfred Hitchcock / Gary McCarron.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McCarron, Gary, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hitchcock, Alfred, 1899-1980--Criticism and interpretation.

Hitchcock, Alfred.

Theory (Philosophy).

Motion pictures--History.

Motion pictures.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxvii, 212 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

London : Anthem Press, 2023.

Summary:

This book is neither biography nor a conventional film critique. Rather, the text explores aspects of Hitchcock's work in relation to theories drawn from the social sciences and philosophy. The various chapters focus not on specific films, but on broader ideas central to Hitchcock's work. There is, for instance, a chapter on his idea of the MacGuffin in which I use Ernesto Laclau's theories of equivalent substitution to explain how the MacGuffin functions in Hitchcock's works. There is also a chapter on his notion of 'pure cinema' which moves from the idea of purity as an anthropological concept to consider purity in relation to current debates regarding so-called hybrid media, and Hitchcock's relevance to these issues in respect of his dissatisfaction with the advent of sound to the cinema world. Broadly speaking, the book uses Hitchcock's films to illustrate ideas in the social sciences and philosophy and uses those same ideas to illustrate aspects of Hitchcock's films.

Contents:

<p style="text-align: justify;">Introduction: Reviewing Hitchcock's Films; Chapter One: The Incidental MacGuffin: Equivalence and Substitution; Chapter Two: The Myth of Ideal Form: Hitchcock's Quest for Pure Cinema; Chapter Three: The Birds versus 'The Birds': Problems of Ambiguity and Complexity; Chapter Four: Telling the Truth and the Wrong/ed Man; Chapter Five: Undecided Stories: 'Blackmail' and the Problem of Moral Agency; Chapter Six: Hitchcock's Debt to Silence: Time and Space in 'The Lodger'; Chapter Seven: Hitchcock's Deferred Dénouement and the Problem of Rhetorical Form; Chapter Eight: Moralizing Uncertainty: Suspicion and Faith in Hitchcock's 'Suspicion'

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 28 Feb 2024).

ISBN:

9781839988486

1839988487

9781839988479

1839988479