Description
This original and compelling book places the body at the center of cinema's first decade of emergence and challenges the idea that for early audiences, the new medium's fascination rested on visual spectacle for its own sake. Instead, as Jonathan Auerbach argues, it was the human form in motion that most profoundly shaped early cinema. Situating his discussion in a political and historical context, Auerbach begins his analysis with films that reveal striking anxieties and preoccupations about persons on public display - both exceptional figures, such as 1896 presidential candidate William McKinley, and ordinary people caught by the movie camera in their daily routines. The result is a sharp, unique, and groundbreaking way to consider the turn-of-the-twentieth-century American incarnation of cinema itself.
About the Author
Jonathan Auerbach is Professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park and is the author of Male Call: Becoming Jack London (1996) and The Romance of Failure: First-Person Fictions of Poe, Hawthorne, and James (1989).
Reviews
"It is essential reading and serve to remind us of the richness of this period of cinema production for film scholarship." -- Anna Dzenis Screening The Past "Brings a refreshing perspective to the study of early cinema." -- Abigail Salerno American Literature "Carefully locating his work in relation to scholarship that has characterized the period as 'cinema of attractions,' Auerbach provides a supplement to, rather than a repudiation of, this important scholarship." -- Steve J. Wurtzler Journal Of American History "Delightful ... Perhaps most refreshing in Auerbach's writing is his healthy appetite for the action, and the people acting." Year's Work In Critical And Cultural Theory "Clever, erudite, illuminating, and maddening." American Studies Journal
Book Information
ISBN 9780520252936
Author Jonathan Auerbach
Format Paperback
Page Count 214
Imprint University of California Press
Publisher University of California Press
Weight(grams) 318g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 13mm
About the Author
Jonathan Auerbach is Professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park and is the author of Male Call: Becoming Jack London (1996) and The Romance of Failure: First-Person Fictions of Poe, Hawthorne, and James (1989).
Reviews
"It is essential reading and serve to remind us of the richness of this period of cinema production for film scholarship." -- Anna Dzenis Screening The Past "Brings a refreshing perspective to the study of early cinema." -- Abigail Salerno American Literature "Carefully locating his work in relation to scholarship that has characterized the period as 'cinema of attractions,' Auerbach provides a supplement to, rather than a repudiation of, this important scholarship." -- Steve J. Wurtzler Journal Of American History "Delightful ... Perhaps most refreshing in Auerbach's writing is his healthy appetite for the action, and the people acting." Year's Work In Critical And Cultural Theory "Clever, erudite, illuminating, and maddening." American Studies Journal
Book Information
ISBN 9780520252936
Author Jonathan Auerbach
Format Paperback
Page Count 214
Imprint University of California Press
Publisher University of California Press
Weight(grams) 318g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 13mm
