Author: Warren Buckland File Type: pdf Film theory no longer gets top billing or plays a starring role in film studies today, as critics proclaim that theory is dead and we are living in a post-theory moment. While theory may be out of the limelight, it remains an essential key to understanding the full complexity of cinema, one that should not be so easily discounted or discarded. In this volume, contributors explore recent popular movies through the lens of film theory, beginning with industrial-economic analysis before moving into a predominately aesthetic and interpretive framework. The Hollywood films discussed cover a wide range from 300 to Fifty First Dates, from Brokeback Mountain to Lord of the Rings, from Spider-Man 3 to Fahrenheit 911, from Saw to Raiders of the Lost Ark, and much more. Individual essays consider such topics as the rules that govern new blockbuster franchises, the posthumanist realism of digital cinema, video game adaptations, increasingly restricted stylistic norms, the spatial stories of social networks like YouTube, the mainstreaming of queer culture, and the cognitive paradox behind enjoyable viewing of traumatic events onscreen. With its cast of international film scholars, Film Theory and Contemporary Hollywood Movies demonstrates the remarkable contributions theory can offer to film studies and moviegoers alike. Reviewthis is an audacious, thoughtful volume that demands close attention...Highly recommended. -CHOICEAbout the AuthorWarren Buckland is Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at Oxford Brookes University. His authored and edited books include Puzzle Films, Directed by Steven Spielberg, Studying Contemporary American Film (with Thomas Elsaesser), and The Cognitive Semiotics of Film. He also edits the New Review of Film and Television Studies.

Author: Ernesto Laclau File Type: pdf Analysis of the role of ideology in political movements.Ernesto Laclau is best known for co-authoring Hegemony and Socialist Strategy, with Chantal Mouffe. Politically active in the social and student movements of the 1960s, and a member of PSIN (Socialist Party of the National Left), Laclaus oeuvre links the working class and new social movements. Rejecting Marxist economic determinism and the notion of class struggle, Laclau instead urged for a radical democracy where antagonisms could be expressed. Frequently described as post-Marxist, Laclaus writings have focused on political movements. Politics and Ideology in Marxist Theory was Laclaus first published work, where readers can trace the early formation of ideas that shaped the twentieth century. Analysis of the role of ideology in political movements.Ernesto Laclau is best known for co-authoring Hegemony and Socialist Strategy, with Chantal Mouffe. Politically active in the social and student movements of the 1960s, and a member of PSIN (Socialist Party of the National Left), Laclaus oeuvre links the working class and new social movements. Rejecting Marxist economic determinism and the notion of class struggle, Laclau instead urged for a radical democracy where antagonisms could be expressed. Frequently described as post-Marxist, Laclaus writings have focused on political movements. Politics and Ideology in Marxist Theory was Laclaus first published work, where readers can trace the early formation of ideas that shaped the twentieth century.About the AuthorErnesto Laclau is Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Government, University of Essex, and Distinguished Professor for Humanities and Rhetorical Studies at Northwestern University. He is the author of, amongst other works, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy (with Chantal Mouffe), New Reflections of the Revolution of Our Time, The Populist Reason, Contingency, Hegemony, Universality (with Judith Butler and Slavoj Zizek), and Emancipation(s).

Author: James Baldwin File Type: epub All of the published poetry of James Baldwin, including six significant poems previously only available in a limited edition During his lifetime (19241987), James Baldwin authored seven novels, as well as several plays and essay collections, which were published to wide-spread praise. These books, among them Notes of a Native Son, The Fire Next Time, Giovannis Room, and Go Tell It on the Mountain, brought him well-deserved acclaim as a public intellectual and admiration as a writer. However, Baldwins earliest writing was in poetic form, and Baldwin considered himself a poet throughout his lifetime. Nonetheless, his single book of poetry, Jimmys Blues, never achieved the popularity of his novels and nonfiction, and is the one and only book to fall out of print. This new collection presents James Baldwin the poet, including all nineteen poems from Jimmys Blues, as well as all the poems from a limited-edition volume called Gypsy, of which only 325 copies were ever printed and which was in production at the time of his death. Known for his relentless honesty and startlingly prophetic insights on issues of race, gender, class, and poverty, Baldwin is just as enlightening and bold in his poetry as in his famous novels and essays. The poems range from the extended dramatic narratives of Staggerlee wonders and Gypsy to the lyrical beauty of Some days, which has been set to music and interpreted by such acclaimed artists as Audra McDonald. Nikky Finneys introductory essay reveals the importance, relevance, and rich rewards of these little-known works. Baldwins many devotees will find much to celebrate in these pages. From the Trade Paperback edition.**From BooklistNational Book Awardwinning poet Nikky Finney introduces this collection of Baldwins long unavailable poetry with radiant gratitude and appreciation, declaring him the most salient, sublime, and consequential American writer of the twentieth century. Black, gay, proud, and courageously direct, Baldwin wrote poetry throughout his life, and poetry was the current that powered his novels, essays, and plays. This volume reclaims his blazing, embracing collection, Jimmys Blues (1983), as well as poems previously found only in a limited edition art book, and they are as potent and significant now as then. The opening poem, Staggerlee wonders, is a rolling, roiling indictment of American lies, racism, genocide, and mayhem. Baldwin writes perceptively and poignantly of time and history, homosexuality as a crime, longing and love, and poses riddles of conscience and spirit. His humor is lashing and sly, his sexiness bold and lithe. Baldwin is thunderous and crooning, rueful and cutting, prayerful and ferocious, questioning and questing. My light is darkness and in my darkness moves, forever, the dream or the hope or the fear of sight. --Donna Seaman Review...Poetry was the current that powered his novels, essays, and playsblazing, embracing collection...as potent and significant now as then. ...Baldwin writes perceptively and poignantly... His humor is lashing and sly, his sexiness bold and lithe. Baldwin is thunderous and crooning, rueful and cutting, prayerful and ferocious, questioning and questing. Booklist These poems were written over thirty years ago, yet they still speak to many of the injustices in the world and to our experience as human beings trying to make sense of our own existence. *The Good Men Project Lyrical, captivating, evocative, thought-provoking poems that also happen to be exploring the political climate of his time. Ploughshares A beautiful and necessary collection of Baldwins poetry. American Book Review* I am completely indebted to Jimmy Baldwins prose. It liberated me as a writer. These poems overwhelm without competing with his prose and I am grateful to have this collection. Toni Morrison These poems are morning stars to be inhaled everyday as we strip search our eyes for new memory. Thank you Brother Jimmy for the breath of your poems. Sonia Sanchez James Baldwin was born for truth. It called upon him to tell it on the mountains, to preach it in Harlem, to sing it on the Left Bank in Paris. His honesty and courage would lead him to see truth and to write truth in poetry, drama, fiction and essay. He was a giant. Maya Angelou

Author: E. Speed File Type: pdf This book extends the critical scope of the previous volume, De-Medicalizing Misery, into a wider social and political context, developing the critique of the psychiatrization of Western society. It explores the contemporary mental health landscape and poses possible alternative solutions to the continuing issues of emotional distress. **