
Cinema and Experience
Siegfried Kracauer, Walter Benjamin, and Theodor W. Adorno
Miriam Hansen(Author)
Edward Dimendberg(Editor)
University of California Press
1st Edition
Published on 4. October 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
408 pages
978-0-520-26560-8 (ISBN)
Description
Siegfried Kracauer, Walter Benjamin, and Theodor W. Adorno - affiliated through friendship, professional ties, and argument - developed an astute philosophical critique of modernity in which technological media played a key role. This book explores in depth their reflections on cinema and photography from the Weimar period up to the 1960s. Miriam Bratu Hansen brings to life an impressive archive of known and, in the case of Kracauer, less known materials and reveals surprising perspectives on canonic texts, including Benjamin's artwork essay. Her lucid analysis extrapolates from these writings the contours of a theory of cinema and experience that speaks to questions being posed anew as moving image culture evolves in response to digital technology.
Reviews / Votes
"This magisterial book is a gift... There is no other study like it." Artforum [Hansen's] reader is amply rewarded by the rich suggestiveness and expansive quality of her insights... A crowning achievement." Bookforum "A crowning achievement in its own right." -- Noah Isenberg BookforumMore details
Series
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 230 mm
Width: 151 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
544 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-26560-8 (9780520265608)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Miriam Hansen | Edward Dimendberg
Cinema and Experience
Siegfried Kracauer, Walter Benjamin, and Theodor W. Adorno
E-Book
10/2011
1st Edition
Naval Institute Press
€34.49
Available for download
Persons
The late Miriam Bratu Hansen was Ferdinand Schevill Distinguished Service Professor in the Humanities at the University of Chicago and the founding chair of what is now the Department of Cinema and Media Studies. Her publications include Babel and Babylon: Spectatorship in American Silent Film and numerous essays in international film history and film theory.
Content
Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations Part I. Kracauer 1. Film, Medium of a Disintegrating World 2. Curious Americanism Part II. Benjamin 3. Actuality, Antinomies 4. Aura: The Appropriation of a Concept 5. Mistaking the Moon for a Ball 6. Micky-Maus 7. Room-for-Play Part III. Adorno 8. The Question of Film Aesthetics Part IV. Kracauer in Exile 9. Theory of Film Notes Index