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Author:   Sylvie Magerstädt, Senior Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire
Publisher:   Rowman & Littlefield International
Imprint:   Rowman & Littlefield International
Dimensions:   Width: 15.30cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 23.00cm
Weight:   0.313kg
ISBN:  

9781783482511

ISBN 10:   1783482516
Pages:   208
Publication Date:   15 December 2014
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments / Abbreviations / Introduction: Philosophy, Myth, Spectacle / Part I: How Real is Reality? - A Review on the Relation of Reality, Art and Illusions / 1. From Dream Factory to Cathedrals of Pop Culture: Mythological, Religious and Ideological Approaches to Cinema / 2. The Realm of the Real: Reality, Images and Cinematic Realism / 3. Back to the Future? Contemporary Cinema and the Challenges for Theorists / Part II: May We Really Believe in Hollywood? - The Creation of Modern Myths / 4. Redemption Through Illusion: Cinematic Myths / 5. Healthy illusions: Hollywood’s Realism and the Return of the Epics / 6. Possible Worlds, Impossible Narratives?: The Potentials and Limits of Digital Storytelling / Epilogue: Further Reflections and Further Directions / Bibliography / Filmography / Index

Reviews

An important contribution to the study of contemporary Hollywood cinema and an original gift for lovers of cinema and philosophy. -- Joram ten Brink, Professor at the University of Westminster This work breaks new ground in its analysis of mythological epic as a (re)emergent film genre that addresses perennial human problems, often with the aid of fantasy-worlds that can be depicted more convincingly with new visual technology. Magerstädt reconsiders aesthetic theorists such as Kracauer, Deleuze, Nietzsche in light of these developments in epic film and Tolkien's arguments about the functions of fantasy -- with results that will be rewarding for students of philosophy as much as film theorists. Her innovative argument ultimately links the creative use of illusion to the redemptive power of mythic narratives. The resulting analysis of recent films in the broad mythic genre helps show, pace the dominant elitist view in film aesthetics, that popular blockbuster films can sometimes be serious art. -- John Davenport, Professor of Philosophy, Fordham Univeristy

An important contribution to the study of contemporary Hollywood cinema and an original gift for lovers of cinema and philosophy. -- Joram ten Brink, Professor at the University of Westminster

Author Information

Sylvie Magerstädt is a senior lecturer in media cultures at the University of Hertfordshire.

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