African American film noir and philosophy : racing shadow and light / Dan Flory.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Flory, Dan, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Film noir--Social aspects.

Film noir.

African American aesthetics.

African Americans in motion pictures.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (256 pages)

Edition:

1st edition.

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury Academic, 2025.

Summary:

How have feelings, presumptions, and preconceptions concerning racialized Blackness intersected with film noir? Dan Flory relies on recent advances in philosophy of film, philosophy of emotion, cognitive film theory, and critical philosophy of race to guide his analyses of this well-known film genre. Making sense of techniques, themes, and characterizations filmmakers have used in order to structure movies into films noirs, Flory focuses on those viewer responses that are not consciously registered by higher-level forms of cognition. He argues that embodied, affective, and implicit reactions are key to understanding how film noir typically conveys ideas, feelings, and perspectives concerning race. Flory examines how recent noir films and TV series by African American and other artists have substantially raised awareness of such responses which renders their analysis more straightforward. In some cases, these artists have created works that aim, both explicitly and implicitly, to generate serious philosophical reflection. By using advances in theoretical subfields in conjunction with developments in mainstream, African American, and other kinds of filmmaking, Flory elucidates many underanalyzed dimensions of noir films and their intersection with racial Blackness. His approach represents a needed opportunity to both diagnose and seek ways to overcome this vexing sociopolitical problem.

Contents:

Illuminating Blackness and critiquing Whiteness : philosophy, race, and film noir

Racialized ethnicity in American film noir

Racialized Blackness in mainstream American film noir

Black noir : African American filmmaking and film noir.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource; title from home page (Bloomsbury Collections, viewed October 3, 2025).

Other Format:

Print version: Flory, Dan. African American film noir and philosophy

ISBN:

9781350496859

1350496855

9781350496842

1350496847

9781350496835

1350496839

OCLC:

1520507213

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license