A very long engagement: the use of cinematic texts in historical research

Fantoni, G ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6249-3993, 2015. A very long engagement: the use of cinematic texts in historical research. In: Carlsten, JM and McGarry, F, eds., Film, history and memory. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 18-31. ISBN 9781137468949

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Abstract

The essay offers a survey of the literature concerning the use of cinematic texts in historical research, from the publication of Kracauer’s classic From Caligari to Hitler to the most recent contributions. It singles out the principal tendencies shown by the scholars who engaged in this particular field of research such as: the use of raw unedited footage as a record of historical events and personalities; the analysis of institutionally sponsored film in order to gain insight into the motives of sponsoring institutions like governments and political parties, the idea that feature films might be indicators of the moral values, prejudices, ideas, and political and social tensions running through a society at a given time. The essay also offers an account of the major theoretical contribution by authors like Marc Ferro, Pierre Sorlin, and John E. O’Connor. The paper’s ultimate purpose is to take stock of the progress made by scholars in this well-established and yet, in many respects, still controversial research thread.

Item Type:	Chapter in book
Creators:	Fantoni, G.
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan
Place of Publication:	Basingstoke
Date:	2015
ISBN:	9781137468949
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1057/9781137468956 DOI
Divisions:	Schools > School of Arts and Humanities
Record created by:	EPrints Services
Date Added:	09 Oct 2015 10:26
Last Modified:	22 Apr 2018 03:00
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/12865

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