“The Hum of the Conversing Audience”: Ordinary Criticism and Film Culture in American Early Film Theory
This article seeks to explore the early stages of American film theory, where cinephilia became a site of aesthetic interest and criticism thanks to the theorization of cinema as a conversational medium. Following Stanley Cavell’s analysis of a distinct form of moviegoing in America, based on the ca...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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De Gruyter
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Open Philosophy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/opphil-2022-0251 |
| _version_ | 1797740395440898048 |
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| author | Statius Marthe |
| author_facet | Statius Marthe |
| author_sort | Statius Marthe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article seeks to explore the early stages of American film theory, where cinephilia became a site of aesthetic interest and criticism thanks to the theorization of cinema as a conversational medium. Following Stanley Cavell’s analysis of a distinct form of moviegoing in America, based on the casual conversation about movies, I argue that a reinterpretation of Emerson’s ordinary aesthetics has been at the core of early film theory, especially in Vachel Lindsay’s writings. In order to illustrate the relation between the defence of a new medium and the attempt to define a quintessentially American art form, this article focuses on the concept of “conversation” that Lindsay uses to describe film spectatorship and to provide a new critical apparatus to grasp the specificity of film aesthetics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:11:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-981bd933ee0b44debcdbce51f190e8c4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2543-8875 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:11:49Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Open Philosophy |
| spelling | doaj.art-981bd933ee0b44debcdbce51f190e8c42023-08-21T06:42:44ZengDe GruyterOpen Philosophy2543-88752023-08-016140810.1515/opphil-2022-0251“The Hum of the Conversing Audience”: Ordinary Criticism and Film Culture in American Early Film TheoryStatius Marthe0LISAA, Université Gustave Eiffel, Paris, FranceThis article seeks to explore the early stages of American film theory, where cinephilia became a site of aesthetic interest and criticism thanks to the theorization of cinema as a conversational medium. Following Stanley Cavell’s analysis of a distinct form of moviegoing in America, based on the casual conversation about movies, I argue that a reinterpretation of Emerson’s ordinary aesthetics has been at the core of early film theory, especially in Vachel Lindsay’s writings. In order to illustrate the relation between the defence of a new medium and the attempt to define a quintessentially American art form, this article focuses on the concept of “conversation” that Lindsay uses to describe film spectatorship and to provide a new critical apparatus to grasp the specificity of film aesthetics.https://doi.org/10.1515/opphil-2022-0251history of criticismearly film theoryfilm aestheticssilent filmmodernism |
| spellingShingle | Statius Marthe “The Hum of the Conversing Audience”: Ordinary Criticism and Film Culture in American Early Film Theory Open Philosophy history of criticism early film theory film aesthetics silent film modernism |
| title | “The Hum of the Conversing Audience”: Ordinary Criticism and Film Culture in American Early Film Theory |
| title_full | “The Hum of the Conversing Audience”: Ordinary Criticism and Film Culture in American Early Film Theory |
| title_fullStr | “The Hum of the Conversing Audience”: Ordinary Criticism and Film Culture in American Early Film Theory |
| title_full_unstemmed | “The Hum of the Conversing Audience”: Ordinary Criticism and Film Culture in American Early Film Theory |
| title_short | “The Hum of the Conversing Audience”: Ordinary Criticism and Film Culture in American Early Film Theory |
| title_sort | the hum of the conversing audience ordinary criticism and film culture in american early film theory |
| topic | history of criticism early film theory film aesthetics silent film modernism |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/opphil-2022-0251 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT statiusmarthe thehumoftheconversingaudienceordinarycriticismandfilmcultureinamericanearlyfilmtheory |