The status of the image in film theory

This dissertation argues that a modem sensibility has dominated film theory since the 1970s, resulting in the imposition of the discursive order onto the film image. As an alternative, I propose a postmodern approach to film; postmodern in the sense elaborated by Jean-François Lyotard, not as a temporal indicator, but as a figure, inscribing the possibility of a radical revision of discourse in and against itself. In addition to the works of Lyotard, I engage with the works of Benjamin and Adomo, Barthes and Metz, Baudry, Kuntzel and Mulvey, and Ropars-Wuilleumier and Brunette & Wills. Throughout, I pay particular attention to the privileged place writing has occupied in film theory, both in its literal sense, and as a critical activity that operates at the expense of figurative representation.