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A Place of Darkness : The Rhetoric of Horror in Early American Cinema / Kendall R. Phillips.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Austin : University of Texas Press, [2021]Copyright date: ©2018Description: 1 online resource (235 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9781477315521
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 791.43/6164 23
LOC classification:
  • PN1995.9.H6 P438 2018
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction CINEMA, GENRE, NATION -- CHAPTER ONE Superstition and the Shock of Attraction HORRIFIC ELEMENTS IN EARLY CINEMA -- CHAPTER TWO Weird and Gloomy Tales UNCANNY NARRATIVES AND FOREIGN OTHERS -- CHAPTER THREE Superstitious Joe and the Rise of the American Uncanny -- CHAPTER FOUR Literary Monsters and Uplift ing Horrors -- CHAPTER FIVE Mysteries in Old Dark Houses -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Index
Summary: Horror is one of the most enduringly popular genres in cinema. The term “horror film” was coined in 1931 between the premiere of Dracula and the release of Frankenstein, but monsters, ghosts, demons, and supernatural and horrific themes have been popular with American audiences since the emergence of novelty kinematographic attractions in the late 1890s. A Place of Darkness illuminates the prehistory of the horror genre by tracing the way horrific elements and stories were portrayed in films prior to the introduction of the term “horror film.” Using a rhetorical approach that examines not only early films but also the promotional materials for them and critical responses to them, Kendall R. Phillips argues that the portrayal of horrific elements was enmeshed in broader social tensions around the emergence of American identity and, in turn, American cinema. He shows how early cinema linked monsters, ghosts, witches, and magicians with Old World superstitions and beliefs, in contrast to an American way of thinking that was pragmatic, reasonable, scientific, and progressive. Throughout the teens and twenties, Phillips finds, supernatural elements were almost always explained away as some hysterical mistake, humorous prank, or nefarious plot. The Great Depression of the 1930s, however, constituted a substantial upheaval in the system of American certainty and opened a space for the reemergence of Old World gothic within American popular discourse in the form of the horror genre, which has terrified and thrilled fans ever since.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9781477315521

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction CINEMA, GENRE, NATION -- CHAPTER ONE Superstition and the Shock of Attraction HORRIFIC ELEMENTS IN EARLY CINEMA -- CHAPTER TWO Weird and Gloomy Tales UNCANNY NARRATIVES AND FOREIGN OTHERS -- CHAPTER THREE Superstitious Joe and the Rise of the American Uncanny -- CHAPTER FOUR Literary Monsters and Uplift ing Horrors -- CHAPTER FIVE Mysteries in Old Dark Houses -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Index

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

Horror is one of the most enduringly popular genres in cinema. The term “horror film” was coined in 1931 between the premiere of Dracula and the release of Frankenstein, but monsters, ghosts, demons, and supernatural and horrific themes have been popular with American audiences since the emergence of novelty kinematographic attractions in the late 1890s. A Place of Darkness illuminates the prehistory of the horror genre by tracing the way horrific elements and stories were portrayed in films prior to the introduction of the term “horror film.” Using a rhetorical approach that examines not only early films but also the promotional materials for them and critical responses to them, Kendall R. Phillips argues that the portrayal of horrific elements was enmeshed in broader social tensions around the emergence of American identity and, in turn, American cinema. He shows how early cinema linked monsters, ghosts, witches, and magicians with Old World superstitions and beliefs, in contrast to an American way of thinking that was pragmatic, reasonable, scientific, and progressive. Throughout the teens and twenties, Phillips finds, supernatural elements were almost always explained away as some hysterical mistake, humorous prank, or nefarious plot. The Great Depression of the 1930s, however, constituted a substantial upheaval in the system of American certainty and opened a space for the reemergence of Old World gothic within American popular discourse in the form of the horror genre, which has terrified and thrilled fans ever since.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Apr 2022)