FAVz083 Styles and Practice of Film Historiography

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2020
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Casper Tybjerg (lecturer), Mgr. Radomír D. Kokeš, Ph.D. (deputy)
Mgr. Daniel Krátký (assistant)
Mgr. Kateřina Šardická (assistant)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Radomír D. Kokeš, Ph.D.
Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 23. 11. 11:00–11:50 VP, 15:00–15:50 VP, Tue 24. 11. 11:00–11:50 VP, 18:00–18:50 VP, Wed 25. 11. 11:00–11:50 VP, 16:00–16:50 VP, Thu 26. 11. 10:00–10:50 VP, 18:00–18:50 VP, Fri 27. 11. 11:00–11:50 VP, 19:00–19:50 VP
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This series of lectures will be based on my nearly-completed book, The Historiography of Filmmaking – through the Lens of Carl Th. Dreyer. I will examine the theory of film history-writing, focusing on what has been called aesthetic film history. In the last ten to fifteen years, much of the energy in film historical research has been in the area called New Cinema History, which has emphasized the importance of archival documents but also sought to shift the focus of the discipline towards the history of movie-going as a social phenomenon and away from the history of cinema as an art form. I also emphasize the importance of archival work, but I am more interested in using it to illuminate what filmmakers did.
Many of the examples I will present involve Carl Th. Dreyer’s film La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc (France 1928). I strongly recommend that you watch the film before coming to the lectures.
The course consists a series of ten lectures via Zoom, each running 40-45 minutes with a 10-15 minute discussion afterwards. One lecture each day during the week 23-27 November; one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
I. Approaches to the Historiography of Films
II. Film Viewing as a Research Method
III. The Concept of Facture
IV. Film Ecdotics: Studying the "Edition History" of Films
V. The Use of Historical Documents by Filmmakers and Historians
VI. Historical Evidence and the Criticism of Sources
VII. Working on the Works of other Historians
VIII. The Distinction between Historiography and Fiction
IX. The Structure of the Historiographical Account
X. The Persona of the Film Historian and the Style of the Account
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, the student can:
Distinguish different types of film historiography
Explain the importance of distinguishing between different editions and versions of the “same” film
Conduct a stylistic analysis of a piece of historiography or similar scholarly prose
Discuss theoretical problems of film historiography
Syllabus
  • The course consists a series of ten lectures via Zoom, each running 40-45 minutes with a 10-15 minute discussion afterwards. One lecture each day during the week 23-27 November; one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
  • I. Approaches to the Historiography of Films
  • II. Film Viewing as a Research Method
  • III. The Concept of Facture
  • IV. Film Ecdotics: Studying the "Edition History" of Films
  • V. The Use of Historical Documents by Filmmakers and Historians
  • VI. Historical Evidence and the Criticism of Sources
  • VII. Working on the Works of other Historians
  • VIII. The Distinction between Historiography and Fiction
  • IX. The Structure of the Historiographical Account
  • X. The Persona of the Film Historian and the Style of the Account
Literature
  • ALLEN, Robert Clyde and Douglas GOMERY. Film history : theory and practice. First edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1985, xii, 276. ISBN 0075548712. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, reading, on-line tests. The 100% attendance at the lectures is compulsory and will be checked throughout every lecture.
Assessment methods
Apart from the compulsory attendance students will have 15 minutes to answer three very brief and simple questions about a specific text related to the upcoming lectures. Six points maximum can be gathered from a test every day; that makes thirty points total. These tests will make up 50% of the grade. Second, the final test will be consisting of three questions testing your acquaintance with the literature (1 question) as well as your knowledge and skills gained throughout the course itself (2 questions).


LITERATURE

Monday:
- Chapman, James. Researching Film and History: Sources, Methods, Approaches. In Eric Margolis and Luc Pauwels (eds.). The SAGE Handbook of Visual Research Methods. London: SAGE, 2011, pp. 359-371.

Tuesday:
- Cherchi Usai, Paolo. The Conservation of Moving Images. Studies in Conservation. 2020, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 250-257.
- Baxandall, Michael. Review of Peter Burke, Eyewitnessing (2001). English Historical Reivew. 2002, vol. 117, June (472), pp. 642-644.
- Summers, David. The Subject in/of Art History: On the Histories of Artifacts. Art Bulletin. 1994, vol. 76, no. 4, pp. 590-592.

Wednesday:
- Müller, Philipp. Understanding History: Hermeneutics and Source-Criticism in Historical Scholarship. In Miriam Dobson and Benjamin Ziemann (eds.). Reading Primary Sources: The Interpretation of Texts from 19th and 20th Century History. London: Routledge, 2008, pp. 21-36.

Thursday:
- Bordwell, David. The Power of a Research Tradition: Prospects for Progress in the Study of Film Style. Film History. 1994, vol. 6, no. 1, s. 59-79.

Friday:
- Allen, Robert C. and Gomery, Douglas. Film History: Theory and Practice. New York: McGraw Hill, 1985, s. 43-64.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2020/FAVz083