Revisioning History: Film and the Construction of a New Past (Princeton Studies in Culture/Power/History, 5)

In Revisioning History thirteen historians from around the world look at the historical film on its own terms, not as it compares to written history but as a unique way of recounting the past. How does film construct a historical world? What are the rules, codes, and strategies by which it brings the past to life? What does that historical construction mean to us? In grappling with these questions, each contributor looks at an example of New History cinema. Different from Hollywood costume dramas or documentary films, these films are serious efforts to come to grips with the past; they have often grown out of nations engaged in an intense quest for historical connections, such as India, Cuba, Japan, and Germany. The volume begins with an introduction by Robert Rosenstone. Part I,'Contesting History,'comprises essays by Geoff Eley (on the film Distant Voices, Still Lives), Nicholas B. Dirks (The Home and the World), Thomas Kierstead and Deidre Lynch (Eijanaika), and Pierre Sorlin (Night of the Shooting Stars). Contributing to Part II,'Visioning History,'are Michael S. Roth (Hiroshima Mon Amour), John Mraz (Memories of Underdevelopment), Min Soo Kang (The Moderns) and Clayton R. Koppes (Radio Bikini). Part III,'Revisioning History'contains essays by Denise J. Youngblood (Repentance), Rudy Koshar (Hitler: A Film from Germany), Rosenstone (Walker), Sumiko Higashi (Walker and Mississippi Burning), and Daniel Sipe (From the Pole to the Equator). Distant Voices, Still Lives : The Family Is A Dangerous Place : Memory, Gender, And The Image Of The Working Class / Geoff Eley -- The Home And The World : The Invention Of Modernity In Colonial India / Nicholas B. Dirks -- Eijanaika : Japanese Modernization And The Carnival Of Time / Thomas Keirstead, Deidre Lynch -- The Night Of The Shooting Stars : Fascism, Resistance, And The Liberation Of Italy / Pierre Sorlin -- Hiroshima Mon Amour : You Must Remember This / Michael S. Roth -- Memories Of Underdevelopment : Bourgeois Consciousness/revolutionary Context / John Mraz -- The Moderns : Art, Forgery, And A Postmodern Narrative Of Modernism / Min Soo Kang -- (cont.) Radio Bikini : Making And Unmaking Nuclear Mythology / Clayton R. Koppes -- Repentance : Stalinist Terror And The Realism Of Surrealism / Denise J. Youngblood -- Hitler : A Film From Germany : Cinema, History, And Structures Of Feeling / Rudy Koshar -- From The Pole To The Equator : A Vision Of A Wordless Past / Dan Sipe -- Walker And Mississippi Burning : Postmodernism Versus Illusionist Narrative / Sumiko Higashi -- Walker : The Dramatic Film As (postmodern) History / Robert A. Rosenstone. Edited By Robert A. Rosenstone. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [215]-241) And Index. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Film on Its Own Terms The New History Film Rules of the Game The Contribution of Visual History Speaking for the Past 1 Distant Voices, Still Lives 2 The Home and the World 3 Eijanaika 4 The Night of the Shooting Stars 5 Hiroshima Mon Amour 6 Memories of Underdevelopment 7 The Moderns 8 Radio Bikini 9 Repentance 10 Hitler: A Film from Germany 11 From the Pole to the Equator 12 Walker and Mississippi Burning 13 Walker Notes List of Contributors Film Credits The essays collected in this volume scrutinize the historical film on its own terms - not as it compares to written history, but as a unique way of recounting the past. The contributors, all historians, argue that these films, far from costume dramas, are serious attempts to understand the past. How does film construct a historical world? What are the rules, codes, and strategies by which it brings the past to life? What does that historical construction mean to us? This book grapples with these questions, and looks at an example of New History cinema. IN BRITAIN, a certain kind of working class peoples the imaginary landscape of the 1950s.