Cultural Theory in the Films of Alfred Hitchcock
14 days return policy
Shipping & Delivery
Product details
- ISBN 9781839988462
- Weight: 454g
- Dimensions: 153 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 11 Jul 2023
- Publisher: Anthem Press
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
- Language: English
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
This book is neither biography nor a conventional film critique. Rather, the text explores aspects of Hitchcock’s work in relation to theories drawn from the social sciences and philosophy. The various chapters focus not on specific films, but on broader ideas central to Hitchcock’s work. There is, for instance, a chapter on his idea of the MacGuffin in which I use Ernesto Laclau’s theories of equivalent substitution to explain how the MacGuffin functions in Hitchcock’s works. There is also a chapter on his notion of ‘pure cinema’ which moves from the idea of purity as an anthropological concept to consider purity in relation to current debates regarding so-called hybrid media, and Hitchcock’s relevance to these issues in respect of his dissatisfaction with the advent of sound to the cinema world. Broadly speaking, the book uses Hitchcock’s films to illustrate ideas in the social sciences and philosophy and uses those same ideas to illustrate aspects of Hitchcock’s films.
Gary McCarron is an associate professor in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University. He is also the Graduate Chair of Simon Fraser University’s program for Graduate Liberal Studies.
