Vertiefungsseminar Lights Camera Action Perceptions of Filmic Reality Blockseminar

***Unfortunately, due to overbooking all further registrations will have to be put on the waiting list.*** Please note that this is a block seminar, taking place in the first week of April. -After all, there is nothing real outside our perception of reality, is there?- -- Videodrome Although relatively young, film, like any artistic medium, has long had a complicated relationship with reality. Issues of representation are only the tip of the iceberg in this context. After all, the notion of reality in general - even in the non-fictional world that we inhabit - has been the subject of discussion since practically the beginning of philosophy. What is reality in the first place? Is it something objective, something tangible that is -out there- in time and space? Or is it rather an abstract concept, an idea created in our conscious minds and deeply influenced by our cultural background? Never mind how we conceive of it in the end, it seems to be bound to a large degree on how we perceive the world around us. It is this, the relationship between reality and perception, that will be the focus of this seminar. Over the course of five days, we will watch and discuss a selection of movies dealing with the diverse complex of interrelated themes the subject matter gives rise to. As such, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick's influential cornerstone of the science fiction genre, tries to represent the nature of our evolution as human beings from a speculative point of view that dares to go beyond the current state and knowledge of humanity, thus leaving behind established representational techniques of reality in the process. David Cronenberg on the other hand thematizes the perception of filmic reality itself in his body horror classic Videodrome, with his controversial later work Crash examining a tendency of disaffectedness in voyeurism that offers an interesting counterpoint to his previous film. The nature of unreality and the logic of dreams are the topic of David Lynch's enigmatic mystery thriller Mulholland Dr., while our role as performers in shaping the reality of our daily lives is deconstructed in Leos Carax' surreal headtrip Holy Motors. All films will be screened in class at the beginning of each day. In the case of Mulholland Dr., however, watching the film more than once would be of benefit to understanding it, so watching it prior to the seminar is highly recommended (we will still screen it in class). A selection of secondary literature will be provided online. Voraussetzungen The seminar is open to BA students who have completed Basic Module III (Literary Studies) as well as to media and culture students. Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik The seminar is open to BA students who have completed Basic Module III (Literary Studies) as well as to media and culture students. Universität Düsseldorf SoSe 2017 Ondrazek Sven