Cinema and Media Cultures in the Middle East

ISSN: 2770-9051

The purpose of this series is to demarcate and critically examine the shifting terrain of film- and media-making in the Middle East, and of practices of film and media studies regarding it, testing them both against their larger, social enabling conditions at the national, regional, and transnational levels. Titles in the series will engage recent developments in the field of Middle East film and media studies and will help point the field in an intellectually meaningful, pedagogically effective direction in relation to both current and, in some cases, significant, previously ignored older work. The series is conceived at a moment during which Middle Eastern film and film criticism have begun to develop in new directions. Recent years have witnessed a modest increase in scholarly engagement with topics and modes of inquiry often previously considered outside academic discourse. A handful of books and special journal issues published in English over the past half-decade, focusing on specific Middle Eastern countries, such as Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Iran, Palestine/Israel and Turkey, as well as the long-overdue establishment of cinema studies as an emerging field of academic inquiry within universities located in the Arab world indicate a preponderance of previously unproblematized issues now circulating within the field. These include critical questions from queer and transgendered perspectives about the representation of women, and from indigenous and settler-colonial studies perspectives about the representation of migrant workers and refugees, the growing importance of documentary, digital animation and hybrid shooting, the continuing influence of global cinema imperatives, and the revival of interest in militant, revolutionary and third cinema aesthetics.

2 publications

Repenser le cinéma / Rethinking Cinema

The main purpose of the «Rethinking Cinema» series is to provide film scholars as well as professionals from the audiovisual field with innovative research material in the field of film aesthetics, theory and history. Many areas of last century’s main attraction are still there to be rediscovered or have seldom been approached in the past. Consequently, priority is given to film concepts, genres, works or authors which have not been frequently dealt with. Conference proceedings, collections of essays, revised doctoral theses or monographs are published and have to distinguish themselves by a considerable degree of originality, audacity and scientific rigour, without neglecting the transdisciplinary and cross-cultural aspects related to different branches from the Humanities such as Art History, Philosophy or Linguistics. The series welcomes manuscripts written in French and/or in English as well as translations of noteworthy texts from other foreign languages. La collection « Repenser le cinéma » privilégie les approches novatrices, les analyses de concepts, de genres, de courants, d’auteurs et de films rarement étudiés, qu’il s’agisse d’actes de colloque, d’essais, de versions remaniées de thèses de doctorat ou encore de monographies. Elle se propose d’offrir aux chercheurs, aux enseignants de l’audiovisuel ainsi qu’aux professionnels du cinéma des pistes de réflexion inédites sur la théorie, l’histoire et l’esthétique d’un art qui recèle de multiples chantiers peu balisés au cours du siècle qui l’a vu naître. La démarche méthodologique adoptée au sein des travaux publiés doit faire preuve d’originalité, d’audace et de rigueur scientifique, tout en visant les corrélations transdisciplinaires et transculturelles avec d’autres domaines des sciences humaines (histoire de l’art, philosophie, linguistique, etc.). La collection accueille des ouvrages en français ou en anglais, des publications bilingues, ainsi que des traductions d’ouvrages étrangers difficilement accessibles.

13 publications

Framing Film

Framing Film has committed itself to the acquisition and publication of serious, high-quality film studies on topics of national and international interest. The series editors are open to a full range of scholarly methodologies and analytical approaches in the examination of cinema art and history, including topics on film theory, film and society, gender and race, politics. Cutting-edge studies and diverse points of view are particularly encouraged.

20 publications

New Studies in European Cinema

ISSN: 1661-0261

With its focus on new critical, theoretical, and cultural developments in contemporary film studies, this series encourages lively analytical debate within an innovative, multidisciplinary, and transnational approach to European cinema. It aims to create an expansive sense of where the borders of European cinema may lie and to explore its interactions and exchanges within and between regional and national spaces, taking into account diverse audiences and institutions. The series reflects the range and depth of European cinema, while also attempting to revise and extend its importance within the development of cinema studies in the coming decades. Of particular interest is how European cinema may respond to the challenges of digital distribution and the new intermedial landscape, evolving issues in transnational funding and production, the significance of film festival culture, and questions of multivocality and pluralism at a time of global crisis. The impact of all such developments upon European culture and identity will be of fundamental interest in the coming decades and the New Studies in European Cinema series makes a key contribution to this debate. Proposals for monographs and edited collections are welcome. All proposals and manuscripts undergo a rigorous peer review assessment prior to publication.

28 publications