Studies in film as a mode of representing reality; cinematic techniques and the "language" of film. Lectures, class discussions, and film viewings.

This course offers an in-depth study of three of the most influential public intellectuals of the twentieth century: James Baldwin, Roland Barthes, and Susan Sontag. Working in the postwar period between France and the United States, and grappling in different ways with their own minority experience, each of these writers was passionately engaged with the cinema, which provided the occasion for some of their most provocative reflections on race, sex, art, and culture. As well as offering brilliant insights into cinema as art form and medium, their writing provides a map of the intellectual, political, and cultural history of the past fifty years, posing questions that are more relevant than ever today. We will analyze the way these (and some other) authors make their arguments, how they think and write about film and art, and, especially, how they bring to light the relation between film aesthetics and the politics of race, class, gender, sexuality, and national identity. We will follow their lead in watching and responding to provocative films that challenge our taken-for-granted assumptions. We will also approach the essay as an art in its own right, exploring how great cultural criticism not only comments on but also creates the world. Students will work through a series of writing exercises to produce innovative cultural criticism of their own, or a longer research paper This class is cross-listed with Film 140, and it will be co-taught by Prof. Stephen Best and Prof. Damon Young. See also https://english.berkeley.edu/courses/5813

Book List

Baldwin, James: The Devil Finds Work; Baldwin, James: The Fire Next Time; Barthes, Roland: Camera Lucida; Barthes, Roland: Mythologies; Sontag, Susan: Against Interpretation

Repeat Rules

Requirements class fulfills