This volume explores the philosophical and metaphysical manifestations of contemporary cinema. St... more This volume explores the philosophical and metaphysical manifestations of contemporary cinema. Starting with the hypothesis that movies provide an experience that is both a pathway into the thinking mechanisms of modern humans and into our collective psyche, this study focuses on the elements that form the “Romanian cinematic mind” as part of the European cinema-thinking. While this book is based on specific case studies provided by recent productions in Romanian filmmaking, such as Proroca (2017) and Touch me Not (2018), it also contextualises the national cinema within the larger, European art of making movies. Offering close interpretations of the works of world-renowned directors like Cristi Puiu, Cristian Mungiu, Corneliu Porumboiu or more recently Adina Pintilie and Constantin Popescu, this book questions the “Romanianess” of their cinematic techniques, and places their philosophical roots both in a particular mode of thinking and within continental philosophy.
UtS 32.1_06_Book Reviews.indd Page 158 17/04/21 1:57 PM objects of analysis; she does not succumb... more UtS 32.1_06_Book Reviews.indd Page 158 17/04/21 1:57 PM objects of analysis; she does not succumb to the need to make overarching, bipolar readings and prefers a more distanced perspective instead. The author remains at the margins of polemics, but this may be due to the fact that this monumental book is indeed an award-winning dissertation (led by prestigious dieciochista Philip Deacon). Form and Reform in Eighteenth-Century Spain by Carla Almanza-Gálvez is a very erudite book that is also highly readable and that reminds scholars of utopian studies as a whole how important their field is, and how connected it is with issues of gender, race, ecology, religion, education, and economy. It is a laudable scholarly endeavor that provides readers with a cross-pollinated interpretation of five of the most important works of utopian literature in Spain. The approach is both wide in scope and precise in its close reading of primary and secondary sources. Her book is supported by an immense bibliography with which the author dialogues in a calm, dispassionate, and enlightened way.
The Romanian version of state socialism, developed by the regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu, is describ... more The Romanian version of state socialism, developed by the regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu, is described as one of the most repressive within the Soviet bloc. The purpose of this chapter is to take a close look at Ceaușescu’s dictatorship and to identify the way in which the political system and its ideological apparatus coped with the local youth culture and its musical expressions. An important level of interpretation is the description of the mechanisms by which the Party propaganda integrated western-style music into its wider social persuasion mechanisms. This mixed method research evaluates the impact of pop-rock in Romania during two decades, by discussing fandom and its influence on different cultural representations, from art to literature and cinema.
This volume explores the philosophical and metaphysical manifestations of contemporary cinema. St... more This volume explores the philosophical and metaphysical manifestations of contemporary cinema. Starting with the hypothesis that movies provide an experience that is both a pathway into the thinking mechanisms of modern humans and into our collective psyche, this study focuses on the elements that form the “Romanian cinematic mind” as part of the European cinema-thinking. While this book is based on specific case studies provided by recent productions in Romanian filmmaking, such as Proroca (2017) and Touch me Not (2018), it also contextualises the national cinema within the larger, European art of making movies. Offering close interpretations of the works of world-renowned directors like Cristi Puiu, Cristian Mungiu, Corneliu Porumboiu or more recently Adina Pintilie and Constantin Popescu, this book questions the “Romanianess” of their cinematic techniques, and places their philosophical roots both in a particular mode of thinking and within continental philosophy.
UtS 32.1_06_Book Reviews.indd Page 158 17/04/21 1:57 PM objects of analysis; she does not succumb... more UtS 32.1_06_Book Reviews.indd Page 158 17/04/21 1:57 PM objects of analysis; she does not succumb to the need to make overarching, bipolar readings and prefers a more distanced perspective instead. The author remains at the margins of polemics, but this may be due to the fact that this monumental book is indeed an award-winning dissertation (led by prestigious dieciochista Philip Deacon). Form and Reform in Eighteenth-Century Spain by Carla Almanza-Gálvez is a very erudite book that is also highly readable and that reminds scholars of utopian studies as a whole how important their field is, and how connected it is with issues of gender, race, ecology, religion, education, and economy. It is a laudable scholarly endeavor that provides readers with a cross-pollinated interpretation of five of the most important works of utopian literature in Spain. The approach is both wide in scope and precise in its close reading of primary and secondary sources. Her book is supported by an immense bibliography with which the author dialogues in a calm, dispassionate, and enlightened way.
The Romanian version of state socialism, developed by the regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu, is describ... more The Romanian version of state socialism, developed by the regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu, is described as one of the most repressive within the Soviet bloc. The purpose of this chapter is to take a close look at Ceaușescu’s dictatorship and to identify the way in which the political system and its ideological apparatus coped with the local youth culture and its musical expressions. An important level of interpretation is the description of the mechanisms by which the Party propaganda integrated western-style music into its wider social persuasion mechanisms. This mixed method research evaluates the impact of pop-rock in Romania during two decades, by discussing fandom and its influence on different cultural representations, from art to literature and cinema.
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