Music and Levels of Narration in Film
Steps across the Border
by Guido Heldt
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Book Presentation:
Music and Levels of Narration in Film is the first book-length study to synthesize scholarly contributions toward a narrative theory of film music. Moving beyond the distinction between diegetic and nondiegetic music—or music that is not understood as part of a film’s “story world”—Guido Heldt systematically discusses music at different levels of narration, from the extrafictional to “focalizations” of subjectivity. Heldt then applies this conceptual toolkit to study the narrative strategies of music in individual films, as well as genres, including musicals and horror films. The resulting volume will be an indispensable resource for anyone researching or studying film music or film narratology.
A PDF version of this book is available for free in open access via the OAPEN Library platform, www.oapen.org It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License and is part of Knowledge Unlatched.
Press Reviews:
“The first book-length study of musical narrativity, Heldt’s Music and Levelsof Narration in Film: Steps Across the Border is an essential resource for one interested in the relationship between music and film. Written for scholars with a background in film music and film narratology, Heldt’s study unifies and expands upon current work in the field and is a welcome and necessary addition to the literature.”
Notes
> On a related topic:
Haunted Soundtracks (2025)
Audiovisual Cultures of Memory, Landscape, and Sound
Dir. Kevin J. Donnelly and Aimee Mollaghan
Hearing Eyes, Seeing Ears (2025)
Collected Writings on Music in Audiovisual Culture
The Synergy of Music and Image in Audiovisual Culture (2023)
Half-Heard Sounds and Peripheral Visions
Musical Sincerity and Transcendence in Film (2023)
Reflexive Fictions
Eye for Music (2011)
Popular Music and the Audiovisual Surreal
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