Abstract

The Anthem Handbook of Screen Theory offers a unique and progressive survey of screen theory and how it can be applied to a range of moving-image texts and sociocultural contexts. Focusing on the “handbook” angle, the book includes only original essays from established authors in the field and new scholars on the cutting edge of helping screen theory evolve for the twenty-first-century vistas of new media, social shifts and geopolitical change. This method guarantees a strong foundation and clarity for the canon of film theory, while also situating it as part of a larger genealogy of art theories and critical thought, and reveals the relevance and utility of film theories and concepts to a wide array of expressive practices and specified arguments. The Anthem Handbook of Screen Theory is at once inclusive, applicable and a chance for writers to innovate and really play with where they think the field is, can and should be heading.

‘The Anthem Handbook of Screen Theory’ offers a unique and progressive survey of screen theory and how it can be applied to a range of moving-image texts and sociocultural contexts. Focusing on the ‘handbook’ angle, the book includes only original essays from two primary sources: established authors in the field and new scholars on the cutting edge of helping screen theory evolve for the twenty-first-century vistas of new media, social shifts and geopolitical change. The main purpose of this method is to guarantee a strong foundation and clarity for the canon of film theory, while also situating it as part of a larger genealogy of art theories and critical thought, and to reveal the relevance and utility of film theories and concepts to a wide array of expressive practices and specified arguments.

‘The Anthem Handbook of Screen Theory’ seeks to avoid the typical republishing of seminal film theory texts and, instead, to provide progressive chapters on major topics that offer a survey summary of the history of that subject in film theory, including references from major texts; put forward an accessible and clear illustration of how the theory can be applied to media texts and industries; and create a vision for the possible future horizon of that topic. It is at once inclusive, applicable and a chance for writers to innovate and really play with where they think the field is, can, and should be heading.

“Whoever claimed that film theory is dead should read The Anthem Handbook of Screen Theory. This excellent collection of essays forcefully demonstrates that film theory is well equipped to face the challenges of the digital age of moving images.”
—Sulgi Lie, Visiting Professor of Media Aesthetics, University of Basel, Switzerland

Hunter Vaughan is associate professor of cinema studies at Oakland University, USA. His work focuses on environmental media, screen theory and philosophy, and issues of identity and ethics in visual culture. He is the author of Where Film Meets Philosophy (2013), Screen Life and Identity: A Guide to Film and Media Studies (with Meryl Shriver-Rice, 2017) and Hollywood’s Dirtiest Secret (forthcoming).

Tom Conley is the Lowell Professor in Visual and Environmental Studies and Romance Languages at Harvard University, USA. He is the author of Film Hieroglyphs (1991/2006) and Cartographic Cinema (2007), and co-editor of the Wylie-Blackwell Companion to Godard (2014).

“In the wake of the post-theory wars, this collection stakes a bold claim for the relevance, importance and centrality of theory for film and screen studies. […] This book represents not merely a survey of the field, but a rich and open foray into current and future debates, often raising points that are challenging and controversial.”
—Richard Rushton, Senior Lecturer, Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts, Lancaster University, UK