Artificial Generation
Photogenic French Literature and the Prehistory of Cinematic Modernity
Rutgers University Press · Print & ebook · November 19, 2021
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- Who it’s for
- Nineteenth-century French literature meets early cinema through images of artificial women.
- Genres
- Film History, French Literary Criticism, 19th-Century Literary Criticism
- Published
- Rutgers University Press, November 19, 2021
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Artificial Generation: Photogenic French Literature and the Prehistory of Cinematic Modernity investigates the intersection of film theory and nineteenth-century literature, arguing that the depth of amalgamation that occurred within literary representation during this era aims to replicate an illusion of life and its sensations, in ways directly related to broader transitions into our modern cinematic age.
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A key part of this evolution in representation relies on the continual re-emergence of the artificial woman as longstanding expression of masculine artistic subjectivity, which, by the later nineteenth century, becomes a photographic and filmic drive. Moving through the beginning of film history, from Georges Méliès and other “silent” filmmakers in the 1890s, into more contemporary movies, including Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017), the book analyzes how films are often structured around the prior century’s mythic and literary principles, which now serve as foundation for film as medium—a phantom form for life’s re-presentation. Artificial Generation provides a crucial reassessment of the longstanding, mutual exchange between cinematic and literary reproduction, offering an innovative perspective on the proto-cinematic imperative of simulation within nineteenth-century literary symbolism.
Artificial Women and Cinema
Nineteenth-century French literature meets early cinema through images of artificial women.
Come here for
- The artificial woman as an expression of masculine artistic subjectivity
- The exchange between literary representation and cinematic form
Expect
- Georges Méliès and other silent filmmakers of the 1890s
- Later films including Vertigo and Blade Runner 2049
Where it sits
| French Literary Criticism | 60% |
|---|---|
| Film History | 55% |
| 19th-Century Literary Criticism | 43% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Feminist Lit Crit
- French Literary Criticism
- Film History
- Authors
- Christina Parker-Flynn
- Publisher
- Rutgers University Press
- Published
- November 19, 2021
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Feminist Lit Crit