Silent Film and the Triumph of the American Myth [Hardcover]

Paula Marantz Cohen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195140931 | ISBN-13: 978-0195140934 | Publication Date: May 3, 2001

Silent Film and the Triumph of the American Myth is a broad cultural study that connects the rise of film to the rise of America as a cultural center and world power in the twentieth century. Cohen argues that through the medium of silent film, America was able to sever its literary and linguistic ties to Europe, assert its cultural independence, and forge a unique form of cultural expression. Silent films drew on elements developed in popular forms of representation like photography, landscape panoramas, and vaudeville performance to create a medium that more accurately represented the American experience.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Veteran cultural critic Cohen (Alfred Hitchcock: The Legacy of Victorianism) explores the advent of the silent film, asserting that the early 20th-century medium represented what American society at the time both embraced (e.g., authentic expression and self-determinism) and rejected (e.g., antiquated European notions and societal stasis). The author considers the "raw materials" of film the body, the landscape, and the face and these components' respective 19th-century antecedents in vaudeville, panoramic displays, and portrait photography. She also discusses their corollaries in genre (comedy, the Western, and melodrama) and their film "vocabulary" (the cut, the long shot, and the close-up). Her contention that the medium is reflexive is not new, yet her seamless integration of seemingly disparate facts is refreshing and convincing. Cohen even reserves some praise for the consumerism fed by the star system and its concomitant fandom. The reader will gain insights into the American "myth" and will regret only that the book is so slim. A thoughtful, engaging, and scholarly study of the American myth of self-creation. Jayne Plymale, Univ. of Georgia, Athens
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Much of [Cohen's] stimulating book deals with a conjunction in American history, the arrival of film around 1900 just at the right time for a vibrant national mythology to find its perfect medium.... [She] posits a strong case for a marriage made in historical heaven between this mythology and film."--Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic

"Paula Marantz Cohen has made a welcome contribution to [the] deeper understanding [of the nature and meaning of silent films]. She sheds light on the stunning, rapid success of American films throughout the world in the silent era, and helps explain the remarkable popularity and influence of American movie stars. This work will engage and intrigue those already familiar with the [silent film] genre, whether fans or scholars."--Joseph P. Eckhardt, The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Writing in fluid, engaging prose, Cohen charts the emergence and triumph of the American myth of the self through silent film...This splendid investigation is both provocatively intelligent and a sheer and evocative delight."--Choice

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 234 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (May 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195140931
• ISBN-13: 978-0195140934
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,562,914 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read for anyone interested in media and visual culture, July 16, 2008

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Natori Moore "natorim" (Encinitas, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Silent Film and the Triumph of the American Myth (Paperback)

This surprisingly profound book provides significant insight into the history of silent film in the United States and how the primary building blocks of body, landscape and face came to be combined in film to put forth both conscious and subconscious ideals of American culture. The author uses excellent examples from U.S. film history and provides provocative food for thought throughout the book. The chapters are organized thematically very well and grant pleasure on first read, yet this book bears careful and repeated reading to glean maximum meaning. Anyone interested in how myth is promulgated through film and how the film medium as it developed in the United States was particularly suited to carry forth uniquely American ideals will find this book a good read. In addition, any reader who wants insight into how American visual culture came to dominate world media, for good or ill, will also gain value from this book.