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Today there is much debate over an increasingly "global economy". But commercial cinema has been, from the very beginnings of its existence, "globalized". From the medium's inception, films have defined and reinforced the core values and social structures of countries. They have also helped define -- socially and culturally -- what is to be considered "outside" the nation and what it is to be shunned.Film and Nationalism examines the ways in which cinema has been considered an arena of conflict and interaction between nations and nationhood. Each section of this volume explores a crucial aspect of the discussion. Is film an effective form of national propaganda? Are films losing the very notion of nationhood, in favor of a generalized, "global" cinematographic culture? What is film's influence over "national character"? In addition, the volume explores the cultural and economic interactions between developed and underdeveloped countries. How have third world nations defined themselves in relation to hegemonic first world cultures, and how have their relations been changed through the dissemination of Western films? Throughout, Alan Williams chooses essays that enhance our understanding of how films help shape our sense of nationhood and self.
List of contents
Reconceptualizing national cinema/s / Stephen Crofts
The concept of national cinema / Andrew Higson
Movie analyses in the study of culture / Martha Wolfenstein
Australian cinema as a national cinema / Tom O'Regan
The testament of Dr. Goebbels / Eric Rentschler
The "funny war" of the sexes in French cinema / Noe¿l Burch and Genevie¿ve Sellier
The legacy of T.E. Lawrence : the forward policy of western film critics in the Far East / Stephen Teo
Are all Latins from Manhattan? Hollywood, ethnography, and cultural colonialism / Ana M. Löpez
Multinational pest control : does American cinema still exist? / Jonathan Rosenbaum
A neo-Marxist approach : world film trade and global culture flows / Janet Staiger
About the author
Williams, Alan
Summary
From the medium's inception, films have defined and reinforced the core values and social structures of countries, and defined what is to be considered "outside" the nation. This text examines the ways cinema has been considered an arena of conflict and interaction between nations and nationhood.
