The World Viewed has indeed not that many
references to Wittgenstein, most of them involve Wittgensteins concept of
'seeing as' and the 'dawning of an aspect' form part II of the
Philosophical Investigations. Cavell also tries to find some analogies between
film and language in a Wittgensteinian sense, pointing us to the fact that the
camera is outside its subject as I am outside my language (on p. 127), which is
a little confusing but means that I cannot make the camera to be seen, and
I cannot find a position beyond the use of
words in language games (I cannot make the words to be seen).
But in general, Cavell does not use Wittgenstein as
a model for the language of film, but as a model of criticism for
expressing our experiences of films. The concept of the 'dawning of an aspects'
refers to a volatility of film that challenges our perception. Cavells notion of
the ordinary, which is based on his readings of Wittgenstein and Austin, is of
great importance here, although he rarely explicitly refers to it in his
readings of films. You have to read Cavell's first book Must We Mean What We
Say? as a point of reference to understand the impact of Wittgenstein on
Cavell's film philosophy. And you may have to read his writings on Emerson and
Thoreau, who Cavell considers to be precursors of Wittgenstein and Austin.
This will give you a sense of how the ordinariness
of popular film, its avoidance of the fate of modernism, can become
focused by a Wittgensteinian notion of philosophy: "We want to understand
something that is already in plain view. For this is what we seem in some sense
not to understand." (§89, Philosophical Investigations). Film (easy to
understand but difficult to explain, with the words of Christian Metz) is
something which we haven't understood yet, and everything in The World
Viewed points us to this fact. Cavell's reading of Wittgensteins
Philosophical Investigations differs from many other interpretations,
because he reads is not as book about philosophy but as a book about
Wittgenstein, pointing us to the dialogical structure of this book involving two
contradiciting voices (the voice the skepticist and the voice of the ordinary
language) which are both Wittgensteins own voices. Cavell reads it as a book of
confession, and The World Viewed itself is meant as a confession,
giving us an account of Cavell's love for classical Hollywood cinema and the
loss of a 'natural relation to film'.
Cavell's notion of skepticism, which he lays down
in the essay "Knowing and Acknowledging" and in his readings of Wittgenstein in
The Claim of Reason is also of great importance for The World
Viewed and his film philosophy, as he regards film as a moving image of
skepticism.
You will find the impact of Wittgenstein in
everything Cavell has written in the last 40 years and though it may pretty
difficult to form a model of analysis and interpretation of film,
there is a strong pedagogical effect to the reader of Cavell who
may learn to find words for the volatile experience of being
entertained by a film,. In films 'everything passes and nothing is
lost', which means that we may miss much of films' siginifcance for us
as something whose significance is hidden right before our
eyes. Entertainment and pleasure remain to be some of the most
mysterious subjects of film and I regard Cavell's readings of classical
Hollywood comedies Pursuits of Happiness as one of the
best works on popular cinema.
Herbert
*
* Film-Philosophy Email Discussion Salon. After hitting 'reply' please always
delete the text of the message you are replying to. To leave, send the
message: leave film-philosophy to: [log in to unmask] Or visit:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/film-philosophy.html For help email:
[log in to unmask], not the salon. * Film-Philosophy
journal: http://www.film-philosophy.com Contact:
[log in to unmask] **