Cinema and Spectatorship (Sightlines)

One of the most significant areas of concern in contemporary film studies is spectatorship, a recently developed but now central and extremely controversial issue. In this book Judith Mayne examines and assesses the major theories of spectatorship as they have developed over the last 15 years, and aims to explore how the analysis of a genuine dialogue between theory and history can lead to an understanding of the complex ways in which the cinema engages its viewers - as a way of "putting theory to the test of history". In the book's first section Mayne examines three theoretical models of spectatorship, the perceptual, the institutional and the historical. The second section focuses on case studies which crystallize many of the issues already discussed, concentrating on textual analysis, the "disrupting genre", "star gazing" and finally, the audience itself. Cinema and Spectatorship is the first book to focus entirely on the history and role of the spectator in contemporary film studies. While 1970s film theory insisted on a distinction betweeen the cinematic subject and film-goers, Judith Mayne suggests that a very real friction between "subjects" and "viewers" is in fact central to the study of spectatorship. In the book's first section Mayne examines three theoretical models of spectatorship: the perceptual, the institutional and the historical, while the second section focuses on case studies which crystallize many of the issues already discussed, concentrating on textual analysis, the d̀isrupting genre', s̀tar-gazing' and finally the audience itself. Case studies incude the place of the spectator in the textual analysis of individual films such as The Picture of Dorian Gray; the construction of Bette Davis' star persona; fantasies of race and film viewing in Field of Dreams and Ghost; and gay and lesbian audiences as "critical" audiences. The book provides a very thorough and accessible overview of this complex, fragmented and often controversial area of film theory Pt. I. Theories Of Spectatorship. 1. The Subject Of Spectatorship. 2. Spectatorship As Institution. 3. Spectatorship Reconsidered. 4. Paradoxes Of Spectatorship -- Pt. Ii. Readings Of Spectatorship. 5. Textual Analysis And Portraits Of Spectatorship. 6. Star-gazing. 7. White Spectatorship And Genre-mixing. 8. The Critical Audience. Judith Mayne. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 173-182) And Index. Judith Mayne examines and assesses the major theories of spectatorship as they have developed over the last 15 years. She aims to explore how the analysis of a genuine dialogue between history and theory can lead to an understanding of the ways in which cinema engages its viewers