Special Affects

Cinema, Animation and the Translation of Consumer Culture

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by Eric Jenkins

Type

Studies

Subject

Theory

Keywords

theory, american cinema, Gilles Deleuze

Publishing date

2014

Publisher

Edinburgh University Press

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Hardcover • 248 pages
6 x 9 ¼ inches (15.5 x 23.5 cm)

ISBN

978-0-7486-9547-8

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Book Presentation:
Examines the translation of classical Hollywood into Disney’s feature films from a Deleuzian perspective

Special Affects retells the emergence of Disney animation and classical Hollywood cinema from the perspective of affect and the embodied modes of generating affection. The emergence of these media enables new modes of perception that create ‘special’ sensations of wonder, astonishment, marvel and the fantastic. Such affections subsequently become mined by consumer industries for profit, thereby explaining the connection between media and consumerism that today seems inherent to the culture industry. Such modes and their affections are also translated into ideology, as American culture seeks to make sense of the sociocultural changes accompanying these new media, particularly as specific versions of American Dream narratives.

Special Affects is the first extended exploration of the connection between media and consumerism, and the first book to extensively apply Deleuzian film theory to animation. Its exploration of the connection between the animated form and consumerism, and its re-examination of twentieth-century animation from the perspective of affect, makes this an engaging and essential read for film-philosophy scholars and students.

About the Author:
Eric S. Jenkins (Ph.D. University of Georgia) grew up in the suburbs in Dallas, Texas, developing a distaste for consumerism and a simultaneously love for all things media like videogames and movies. Subsequently, he studies the interconnection between media and consumerism, with an emphasis on the modes of mediated consumption and their affective capacities. Disney animation was both a first love (of media) and a first hate (of consumerism).

See the publisher website: Edinburgh University Press