Living Screens

Melodrama and Plasticity in Contemporary Film and Television

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Drama History & Criticism, Theory, Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
Cover of the book Living Screens by Monique Rooney, Rowman & Littlefield International
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Monique Rooney ISBN: 9781783480487
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield International Publication: August 28, 2015
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield International Language: English
Author: Monique Rooney
ISBN: 9781783480487
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield International
Publication: August 28, 2015
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield International
Language: English

Through original analysis of three contemporary, auteur-directed melodramas (Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men, Lars von Trier’s Melancholia and Todd Haynes’s Mildred Pierce), Living Screens reconceives and renovates the terms in which melodrama has been understood. Returning to Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s foundational, Enlightenment-era melodrama Pygmalion with its revival of an old story about sculpted objects that spring to life, it contends that this early production prefigures the structure of contemporary melodramas and serves as a model for the way we interact with media today. Melodrama is conceptualized as a “plastic” form with the capacity to mould and be moulded and that speaks to fundamental processes of mediation.

Living Screens evokes the thrills, anxieties, and uncertainties accompanying our attachment to technologies that are close-at-hand yet have far-reaching effects. In doing so, it explores the plasticity of our current situation, in which we live with screens that melodramatically touch our lives.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Through original analysis of three contemporary, auteur-directed melodramas (Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men, Lars von Trier’s Melancholia and Todd Haynes’s Mildred Pierce), Living Screens reconceives and renovates the terms in which melodrama has been understood. Returning to Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s foundational, Enlightenment-era melodrama Pygmalion with its revival of an old story about sculpted objects that spring to life, it contends that this early production prefigures the structure of contemporary melodramas and serves as a model for the way we interact with media today. Melodrama is conceptualized as a “plastic” form with the capacity to mould and be moulded and that speaks to fundamental processes of mediation.

Living Screens evokes the thrills, anxieties, and uncertainties accompanying our attachment to technologies that are close-at-hand yet have far-reaching effects. In doing so, it explores the plasticity of our current situation, in which we live with screens that melodramatically touch our lives.

More books from Rowman & Littlefield International

Cover of the book In Search of the Afropolitan by Monique Rooney
Cover of the book Experimental Philosophy by Monique Rooney
Cover of the book Global Community? by Monique Rooney
Cover of the book Contemporary Protest and the Legacy of Dissent by Monique Rooney
Cover of the book Nancy, Blanchot by Monique Rooney
Cover of the book Experience Machines by Monique Rooney
Cover of the book New Directions in the Philosophy of Social Science by Monique Rooney
Cover of the book Ideology and the Future of Progressive Social Movements by Monique Rooney
Cover of the book Living Off Landscape by Monique Rooney
Cover of the book The Extreme in Contemporary Culture by Monique Rooney
Cover of the book Chronopoetics by Monique Rooney
Cover of the book Minority Rights and Minority Protection in Europe by Monique Rooney
Cover of the book What Lies Between by Monique Rooney
Cover of the book Varieties of Empathy by Monique Rooney
Cover of the book Territory Beyond Terra by Monique Rooney
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy