Artificial Generation

Photogenic French Literature and the Prehistory of Cinematic Modernity

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by Christina Parker-Flynn

Type: Essays
Subject: Technique > Adaptation
Keywords: literature, theory, philosophy
Publishing date: 2021
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Language: English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 260 pages
6 ¾ x 9 ¾ inches (17 x 25 cm)

ISBN

978-1-9788250-6-2

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Book Presentation:
Artificial Generation: Photogenic French Literature and the Prehistory of Cinematic Modernity investigates the intersection of film theory and nineteenth-century literature, arguing that the depth of amalgamation that occurred within literary representation during this era aims to replicate an illusion of life and its sensations, in ways directly related to broader transitions into our modern cinematic age. A key part of this evolution in representation relies on the continual re-emergence of the artificial woman as longstanding expression of masculine artistic subjectivity, which, by the later nineteenth century, becomes a photographic and filmic drive. Moving through the beginning of film history, from Georges Méliès and other “silent” filmmakers in the 1890s, into more contemporary movies, including Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017), the book analyzes how films are often structured around the prior century’s mythic and literary principles, which now serve as foundation for film as medium—a phantom form for life’s re-presentation. Artificial Generation provides a crucial reassessment of the longstanding, mutual exchange between cinematic and literary reproduction, offering an innovative perspective on the proto-cinematic imperative of simulation within nineteenth-century literary symbolism.

About the Author:
CHRISTINA PARKER-FLYNN is an assistant professor of film and literature in the Department of English at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Press Reviews:
"From a 'photogenic literary imperative' in 19th century literature through early cinema to Hitchcock’s Vertigo and on to contemporary cinematic fantasies of replication as translated in Blade Runner: 2049’s stunning digital effects, this thoroughly engrossing book demonstrates the persistence and the force of the artificial woman, and the male fantasies of reproductive power it grounds, across a formidable array of texts—from literature to photography to film—in an intermedial history of aesthetic 'generation.'"
— Sharon Willis

"From a 'photogenic literary imperative' in 19th century literature through early cinema to Hitchcock’s Vertigo and on to contemporary cinematic fantasies of replication as translated in Blade Runner: 2049’s stunning digital effects, this thoroughly engrossing book demonstrates the persistence and the force of the artificial woman, and the male fantasies of reproductive power it grounds, across a formidable array of texts—from literature to photography to film—in an intermedial history of aesthetic 'generation.'"
— Sharon Willis

"In Artificial Generation Christina Parker-Flynn skillfully explores the obsession with the artificial woman in nineteenth-century literature and early film. In close dialogue with film theory, she shows how the literary interest in female automatons, statues, and mummies in works by Gautier, Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, and Wilde is replicated and reinterpreted in early cinema. With its cross-aesthetic perspective, Parker Flynn’s discussion advances our understanding of how various art forms grappled with questions regarding life, animation and generation. Artificial Generation uncovers a rich aesthetic tradition and deftly demonstrates its relevance for contemporary culture."

— Marit Grøtta

See the publisher website: Rutgers University Press

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