Postmodernism and Film: Rethinking Hollywood's Aesthestics
Catherine Constable
Abstract
This volume focuses on postmodern film aesthetics, thinking through ways in which it challenges the aesthetic paradigms currently dominating analyses of Hollywood cinema. The first chapter explores conceptions of the classical, modernist, post-classical/new Hollywood, and their construction as a linear history of style in which postmodernism forms a debatable final act. This history is challenged by using Jean-François Lyotard’s non-linear conception of postmodernism in order to view postmodern aesthetics as a paradigm that can occur across the history of Hollywood. Chapter 2 explores famous ' ... More
This volume focuses on postmodern film aesthetics, thinking through ways in which it challenges the aesthetic paradigms currently dominating analyses of Hollywood cinema. The first chapter explores conceptions of the classical, modernist, post-classical/new Hollywood, and their construction as a linear history of style in which postmodernism forms a debatable final act. This history is challenged by using Jean-François Lyotard’s non-linear conception of postmodernism in order to view postmodern aesthetics as a paradigm that can occur across the history of Hollywood. Chapter 2 explores famous 'nihilistic' theorists of the postmodern, Jean Baudrillard and Frederic Jameson, addressing the ways in which their work impacts on reading Hollywood films. Within Film Studies, writing on postmodernism and Hollywood cinema has drawn on the more negative aspects of Jameson’s work. Postmodern films are seen as expressions of the logic of late capitalism, and thus incapable of offering political critique, while their relentless utilisation of past styles is reflective of aesthetic bankruptcy. In contrast, the final chapter argues in favor of taking up the work of 'affirmative' postmodern theorists, notably Linda Hutcheon, in order to set up nuanced and positive variants of postmodern film aesthetics. For Hutcheon, postmodern art is characterized by paradox, due to its simultaneous re-inscription and deconstruction of past art forms. This doubled movement of both evoking and dismantling convention underpins its political potential, namely the de-naturalisation of a history of representation. The range, diversity and critical potential of postmodern aesthetic strategies are demonstrated by detailed readings of four film texts.
Keywords:
Postmodernism,
Postmodern Aesthetics,
Post-classical,
Lyotard,
Baudrillard,
Jameson,
Hutcheon,
Textual Analysis,
Reading,
Hollywood
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2015 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780231174558 |
| Published to Columbia Scholarship Online: January 2016 |
DOI:10.7312/columbia/9780231174558.001.0001 |
