Sensualism as a Basis for the Study of a Film Work (Some Preliminary Proposals)
Abstract
The main objective of the article is to look for universal criteria of film mass appeal which can be included under the general notion of “sensualism.” The authors’ proposal refers to the qualities of a film work that not only engage the senses in an increasingly perfect and intense way, but also enable understanding (from purely sensual to intellectual) of the viewed work. One of the important aspects of the text concerns sensualism as the universal language of film. Depending on the saturation of the aforementioned qualities, the authors distinguish three levels in a film work: sensual-semantic (with an emphasis on “sensual excitement,” primarily of a visual and/or auditory nature), semantic-sensual (with the dominant role of aesthetic conventions and the film’s expressive means, such as the symbol) and semantic (focused mainly on the word). Thus, the “sensualism” in the title is an interpretive category in relation to both the material of the film work and the viewer and the processes that occur during the reception of this work (“sensualism” as a tool of communication). (Non-reviewed material; originally published in Kwartalnik Filmowy 1963, no. 51, pp. 35-47).
Keywords:
Aleksander Kumor, Danuta Palczewska, history of film theory, sensualism, sensual theory of cinemaReferences
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Authors
Aleksander Kumorkwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Poland
Polish film and television theoretician born in 1925. His professional life was associated with the Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences, and its Department of Film History and Theory. The latter, due to Kumor’s efforts as well as his pioneering interests in the area of film studies, was renamed the Department of Film and Television History and Theory. Kumor was one of the forerunners of Polish post-war film studies and one of the first propagators of Walter Benjamin’s thought in Poland. His selected works include: Karol Irzykowski, teoretyk filmu [Karol Irzykowski, a Film Theoretician] (1965), Telewizja. Teoria – percepcja – wychowanie [Television. Theory – Perception – Upbringing] (1973, 2nd ed. 1976), W stronę telewidza. Studia i szkice [Towards the Television Viewer. Studies and Sketches] (1988). In addition to the article under discussion, he wrote several papers with Danuta Palczewska. They include the important chapter Kulturowe wyznaczniki dzieła filmowego. (Z zagadnień standaryzacji filmu) [Cultural Determinants of the Film Work. (The Issues of Film Standardization)] in Wstęp do badania dzieła filmowego [Introduction to the Study of the Film Work] (1966), edited by Aleksander Jackiewicz. Kumor co-edited volumes in the series “Studia z Teorii Filmu” [“Studies in Film Theory”]: Sztuka, technika, film [Art, Technique, Film] (vol. 3, 1970) and Film i telewizja [Film and Television] (vol. 11, 1982). Aleksander Kumor died in 1988.
Authors
Danuta PalczewskaPoland
Polish film studies scholar born in 1922. Her professional life was associated with the Department of Film History and Theory at the Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences. Author of Współczesna polska myśl filmowa [Contemporary Polish Film Thought] (1981) and numerous articles on film theory. Later she was involved in the reactivation of the famous Warsaw school for girls (founded 1883) and the establishment of Towarzystwo Oświatowe im. Cecylii Plater-Zyberkówny [The Cecylia Plater-Zyberkówna Educational Society]. Alongside Ewa Krasnowolska, Palczewska co-edited the book Szkoła Cecylii Plater-Zyberkówny: 1883-1944 [Cecylia Plater-Zyberkówna’s School: 1883-1944] (1987) and wrote Życie i działalność Cecylii Plater-Zyberkówny [The Life and Activities of Cecylia Plater-Zyberkówna] (1991). In addition to the article under discussion, Danuta Palczewska and Aleksander Kumor wrote several other texts together. They include the important chapter Kulturowe wyznaczniki dzieła filmowego. (Z zagadnień standaryzacji filmu) [Cultural Determinants of the Film Work. (The Issues of Film Standardization)] in Wstęp do badania dzieła filmowego [Introduction to the Study of the Film Work] (1966), edited by Aleksander Jackiewicz. She also co-edited volumes in the series “Studia z Teorii Filmu” [“Studies in Film Theory”]: Sztuka, technika, film [Art, Technique, Film] (vol. 3, 1970) and Film i telewizja [Film and Television] (vol. 11, 1982). Danuta Palczewska died in 1999.
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