Mika Kaurismaki's films challenge many boundaries - national societies, genre formations, art/popular culture, fiction/documentary, humanity/nature and problematic distinctions between different zones of development. Synthesizing concepts from a range of thematic frameworks - e.g. auteurism, eco-philosophy, genre, cartography, cineaste networks, global reception, distribution and exhibition practices, and the potential of postnationalism - this book provides an interdisciplinary reading of Kaurismaki's cinema. The notion of 'transvergence' - thinking in heterogeneous and polyphonal terms - emerges as an analytical method for exploring the power of these films. Through this method, the book encourages a rethinking of transnational cinema studies in relation to many oft-debated notions such as Finnish culture, European identity, cosmopolitanism and globalization.

A PDF version of this book is available for free in open access via the OAPEN Library platform: The Cinema of Mika Kaurismaki. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License and is part of Knowledge Unlatched.

About the Author

Pietari Kaapa is a teaching fellow in cultural studies and international communications at University of Nottingham Ningbo in China.

Book Information
ISBN 9781841504094
Author Pietari Kaapa
Format Paperback
Page Count 208
Imprint Intellect Books
Publisher Intellect Books