Precarious Sociality, Ethics and Politics - French Documentary Cinema in the Early Twenty-First Century

"Precarious Sociality, Ethics and Politics: French Documentary Cinema in the Early Twenty-First Century brings an original perspective on French cinema's 'return to work' in the early twenty-first century, focusing on the transformation of cinematic activism in view of the rapid dissolution of class narratives and solidarities. It is argued that, reckoning with widespread anxieties about job insecurity, social uncertainty, loss and invisibility in French society, filmmakers catalysed new modes of intervention, best described as embodied praxes of sociality. Combining rigorous film analyses with concepts borrowed from philosophy, sociology, geography and political theory, this study positions documentary as a privileged point of articulation between aesthetics, politics and ethics. The wide-ranging film corpus features well-established auteurs (Agnáes Varda, Raymond Depardon, Denis Gheerbrant) and less canonical filmmakers to celebrate the vitality of contemporary French documentary cinema and its creative contributions to international discussions about work, precarity and social resilience." -- Page 4 of cover.

About the author

Audrey Evrard is associate professor of French at Fordham University.

Summary

Precarious Sociality, Ethics and Politics examines filmmakers' 'return to work' by the late 1990s, focusing on how they positioned the practice as a privileged point of articulation between aesthetics, politics and ethics, where work, precarity and activism could be addressed anew.

Product details

• Authors: Audrey Evrard
• Publisher: University of Wales Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.03.2022
• EAN: 9781786838421
• ISBN: 978-1-78683-842-1
• No. of pages: 264
• Series: French and Francophone Studies
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Education > Social education, social work; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Social structure research; first, Cinema, French, Politics, France, Ethics, PHILOSOPHY / Social, HISTORY / Europe / France, Documentary, Political activism, 21st century, c 2000 to c 2100, Precarious, Social issues & processes, PERFORMING ARTS / Film / History & Criticism, Twenty, Century, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Social Classes & Economic Disparity, Audrey, Social and ethical issues, Sociality, Political activism / Political engagement, early, Evrard