Film History as Media Archaeology

par Thomas Elsaesser

Depuis que le cinéma est entré dans l’ère numérique, sa “nature” même a connu un examen renouvelé. En s’opposant au débat sur la “mort du cinéma”, l’histoire du cinéma conçue comme une archéologie des médias défend la thèse solide consistant à considérer le statut actuel du cinéma comme un nouvel objet épistémologique, d’intérêt pour les philosophes, tout en examinant la présence des images animées dans les musées et les galeries comme un défi à l’histoire de l’art. La présente étude est le fruit de quelque 20 ans de recherche et d’écrits à la croisée de l’histoire du cinéma, de la théorie des médias et de l’archéologie des médias par l’un des pionniers reconnus de “la nouvelle histoire du cinéma” et de “l’archéologie des médias”. Il rejoint les efforts d’autres chercheurs à situer l’émergence historique du cinéma et ses transformations subséquentes au sein du champ plus général de l’évolution et de l’interaction des médias — tel qu’on l’expérimente aujourd’hui.

http://en.aup.nl/books/9789462980570-film-history-as-media-archaeology.html

Recommandations par des membres de Domitor (en anglais):

“With its 50th installment, the Film Culture in Transition book series edited by Thomas Elsaesser for Amsterdam University Press, reaffirms its position as one of the most important and indispensable venues for film and media research in English language academic publishing. With its ground-breaking monographs and edited collections, the series has been driving the debate in our field for more than two decades now. ‘Film History as Media Archaeology’ illustrates the virtues and qualities of the series in exemplary fashion: A wide-ranging re-assessment of established approaches to film historiography in the light of the challenges offered by digital cinema, the book offers a pivot away from an exclusive focus on the study of canonical works to an understanding of film history as a vital thread of a broader history of media, digital and otherwise. Like so many of the previous volumes in the series, volume 50 is bound to establish itself as a text of reference in contemporary film and media scholarship.”

Vinzenz Hediger, professor of cinema studies, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt

“As the field of Film Studies has morphed into Media Studies, no one has better grasped the consequences and opportunities for scholarship than Thomas Elsaesser. He has deftly managed to keep the whole equation of film and media studies in his head, both in his own work and as Film Culture in Transition’s series editor. The result is nothing less than an ongoing tour de force as he analyzes contemporary Hollywood cinema in one book, film theory in another, and various permutations of German cinema in still others. Continuing his commitment to Early Cinema, Elsaesser’s most recent publication rethinks the terms of film history within a broader framework of media archaeology–a call that has already generated a new, vibrant arena of research and erudition. Not only is Film History as Media Archaeology impressive in its own right, as the 50th volume in “Film Culture in Transition”, his book series with Amsterdam University Press, Elsaesser has deployed his acumen and rigor to nurture, shape and inspire a generation (or two) of scholars.”

Professor Charles Musser, Yale University