Chapter
Publicly Available
Introduction
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Acknowledgments v
- Contents xiii
- Preface to the Fourth Edition xv
- Introduction xvii
-
Part One: Theory
- 1. Genre 3
- 2. The Idea of Genre in the American Cinema 12
- 3. A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre 27
- 4. Cycles and Clusters: The Shape of Film Genre History 42
- 5. Genre Films and the Status Quo 60
- 6. Social Implications in the Hollywood Genres 69
- 7. Ideology, Genre, Auteur 78
- 8. “Cinema/Ideology/Criticism” Revisited: The Progressive Genre 93
- 9. The Structural Influence: New Directions in Film Genre Study 110
- 10. Genre Film: A Classical Experience 121
- 11. Experience and Meaning in Genre Films 133
- 12. Genre and Performance: An Overview 148
- 13. Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess 159
- 14. Questions of Genre 178
- 15. Hybrid or Inbred: The Purity Hypothesis and Hollywood Genre History 203
- 16. Film Genres at the Crossroads: What Genres and Films Do to Each Other 218
-
Part Two: Selected Genre Criticism
- 17. The Western (Genre and Movies) 239
- 18. Apes and Essences: Some Sources of Significance in the American Gangster Film 255
- 19. Notes on Film Noir 265
- 20. Chinatown and Generic Transformation in Recent American Films 279
- 21. Shoot-Out at the Genre Corral: Problems in the “Evolution” of the Western 298
- 22. The Bug in the Rug: Notes on the Disaster Genre 313
- 23. “Surge and Splendor”: A Phenomenology of the Hollywood Historical Epic 332
- 24. Children of the Light 360
- 25. Monsters from the Id 382
- 26. Immigrants, Aliens, and Extraterrestrials: Science Fiction’s Alien “Other” as (Among Other Things) New Latino Imagery 402
- 27. Tales of Sound and Fury: Observations on the Family Melodrama 433
- 28. Screwball Comedies: Constructing Romance, Mystifying Marriage 463
- 29. Redressing the “Natural”: The Temporary Transvestite Film 484
- 30. Friendly Civilians: Images of Women and the Feminization of the Audience in Vietnam War Films 510
- 31. The Family in Action 524
- 32. The Self-Reflexive Musical and the Myth of Entertainment 543
- 33. The Black Gangster Film 558
- 34. Teen Films: The Cinematic Image of Youth 576
- 35. Re-presenting the National Past: Nostalgia and Pastiche in the Heritage Film 602
- 36. Global Noir: Genre Film in the Age of Transnationalism 628
- Bibliography 649
- Notes on Contributors 735
- Index 743
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Acknowledgments v
- Contents xiii
- Preface to the Fourth Edition xv
- Introduction xvii
-
Part One: Theory
- 1. Genre 3
- 2. The Idea of Genre in the American Cinema 12
- 3. A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre 27
- 4. Cycles and Clusters: The Shape of Film Genre History 42
- 5. Genre Films and the Status Quo 60
- 6. Social Implications in the Hollywood Genres 69
- 7. Ideology, Genre, Auteur 78
- 8. “Cinema/Ideology/Criticism” Revisited: The Progressive Genre 93
- 9. The Structural Influence: New Directions in Film Genre Study 110
- 10. Genre Film: A Classical Experience 121
- 11. Experience and Meaning in Genre Films 133
- 12. Genre and Performance: An Overview 148
- 13. Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess 159
- 14. Questions of Genre 178
- 15. Hybrid or Inbred: The Purity Hypothesis and Hollywood Genre History 203
- 16. Film Genres at the Crossroads: What Genres and Films Do to Each Other 218
-
Part Two: Selected Genre Criticism
- 17. The Western (Genre and Movies) 239
- 18. Apes and Essences: Some Sources of Significance in the American Gangster Film 255
- 19. Notes on Film Noir 265
- 20. Chinatown and Generic Transformation in Recent American Films 279
- 21. Shoot-Out at the Genre Corral: Problems in the “Evolution” of the Western 298
- 22. The Bug in the Rug: Notes on the Disaster Genre 313
- 23. “Surge and Splendor”: A Phenomenology of the Hollywood Historical Epic 332
- 24. Children of the Light 360
- 25. Monsters from the Id 382
- 26. Immigrants, Aliens, and Extraterrestrials: Science Fiction’s Alien “Other” as (Among Other Things) New Latino Imagery 402
- 27. Tales of Sound and Fury: Observations on the Family Melodrama 433
- 28. Screwball Comedies: Constructing Romance, Mystifying Marriage 463
- 29. Redressing the “Natural”: The Temporary Transvestite Film 484
- 30. Friendly Civilians: Images of Women and the Feminization of the Audience in Vietnam War Films 510
- 31. The Family in Action 524
- 32. The Self-Reflexive Musical and the Myth of Entertainment 543
- 33. The Black Gangster Film 558
- 34. Teen Films: The Cinematic Image of Youth 576
- 35. Re-presenting the National Past: Nostalgia and Pastiche in the Heritage Film 602
- 36. Global Noir: Genre Film in the Age of Transnationalism 628
- Bibliography 649
- Notes on Contributors 735
- Index 743