Marxist Film Theory and Fight Club (Film Theory in Practice)

"Anna Kornbluh provides an overview of Marxist approaches to film, with particular attention to three central concepts in Marxist theory in general that have special bearing on film: "the mode of production," "ideology," and "mediation." In explaining how these concepts operate and how they have been used and misused in film studies, the volume employs a case study to exemplify the practice of Marxist film theory. Fight Club is an exceptionally useful text with which to explore these three concepts because it so vividly and pedagogically engages with economic relations, ideological distortion, and opportunities for transformation. At the same time, it is a very typical film in terms of the conditions of its production, its marketing, and its popularity. Adapted from a novel by Chuck Palahniuk, the film is a contemporary classic that has lent itself to significant re-interpretation with every shift in the political economic landscape since its debut. Marxist Film Theory and Fight Club models a detailed cinematic interpretation that students can practice with other films, and furnishes a set of ideas about cinema and society that can be carried into other kinds of study, giving students tools for analyzing culture broadly defined." --From publisher's description Anna Kornbluh provides an overview of Marxist approaches to film, with particular attention to three central concepts in Marxist theory in general that have special bearing on film: "the mode of production," "ideology," and "mediation." In explaining how these concepts operate and how they have been used and misused in film studies, the volume employs a case study to exemplify the practice of Marxist film theory.0Fight Club is an exceptionally useful text with which to explore these three concepts because it so vividly and pedagogically engages with economic relations, ideological distortion, and opportunities for transformation. At the same time, it is a very typical film in terms of the conditions of its production, its marketing, and its popularity. Adapted from a novel by Chuck Palahniuk, the film is a contemporary classic that has lent itself to significant re-interpretation with every shift in the political economic landscape since its debut.0Marxist Film Theory and Fight Club models a detailed cinematic interpretation that students can practice with other films, and furnishes a set of ideas about cinema and society that can be carried into other kinds of study, giving students tools for analyzing culture broadly defined Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgments 7 Introduction 8 The universal language 15 Chapter 1: Marxist Film Theory 20 Formalism in Marxism 20 Building things with Marxism3 24 Marx’s norms, Marx’s utopian maps 27 Creative labor 29 Mode of production 34 Ideology 45 Mediation 64 Marxist film theory 71 Some motifs in Marxist film analysis 97 Chapter 2: Marxist Film Theory and Fight Club 112 This is it, the beginning (again) 119 Mode of production in Fight Club 123 Ideology in Fight Club 144 Mediation in Fight Club 155 Conclusion 180 Periodizing Fight Club 181 Notes 186 Chapter one 186 Chapter two 189 Further Reading 190 Index 192