"France and Film/Media Theory." In this seminar we will explore the intersections of past and present media theories with French thought. One central goal of the course is to discern the contingent role of historical events and intellectual traditions connected with France in shaping some of the main features of the current media landscape we take for granted. Why have Bergson, Merleau-Ponty and Deleuze become such central resources for media thinkers? Can Jean Epstein and George Simondon stand as alternatives to a marked ‘techno-reluctance' of French discourses on medias from Bazin and Barthes to Rancière, Badiou and Stiegler? What contemporary French film and media thinkers and practitioners can we look to for new directions in our research?
The seminar will orbit around four foci to be modulated according to participants: archaeology, corporeality, materiality and cosmopolitics. Other thinkers studied will include: Étienne Souriau, George Didi-Huberman, Nicole Brenez, Erik Bullot, Chris Marker, Jean-Marie Schaeffer, Thérésa Faucon, Isabelle Stengers. Raymond Bellour.