IN BROAD DAYLIGHT: MOVIES AND SPECTATORS AFTER THE CINEMA by GABRIELE PEDULLA

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“Insights abound, and the author’s facility with so many different disciplines—from ancient Greek philosophy to 20th century semiotics—will ensure that casual filmgoers and academics alike find something salient to ponder in Pedullà’s treatise.”

– PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-84467-853-2

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The metamorphosis of the spectator and the arts in the age of YouTube. From plasma screens to smartphones, today moving images are everywhere. How have films adapted to this new environment? And how has the experience of the spectator changed because of this proliferation? IN BROAD DAYLIGHT investigates one of the decisive shifts in the history of Western aesthetics, exploring the metamorphosis of films in the age of individual media, when the public is increasingly free but also increasingly resistant to the emotive force of the pictures flashing around us. Moving deftly from philosophy of mind to film theory, from architectural practice to ethics, from Leon Battista Alberti to Orson Welles, GABRIELE PEDULLA examines the revolution that is reshaping the entire system of the arts and creativity in all its manifestations.

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Praise for IN BROAD DAYLIGHT:

[Pedulla's] concise, surprising essay… is worked up to via a careful engagement with Stanley Cavell on tragedy and Serge Daney on the question of the ethical position available to the post-cinematic viewer. – Chris Darke, SIGHT & SOUND

"Pedulla’s interesting little book… claims intrigue." – Steven Poole, THE GUARDIAN

“Technical reproducibility of the work of art and anatomy of the society of the spectacle: Pedullà’s book is the first to take a real step forward from the analyses of Walter Benjamin and Guy Debord.” – Paolo Virno, author of A GRAMMAR OF THE MULTITUDE

“A welcome shift in focus … A compelling archeology of the darkened spectatorial space, ranging back to Greek antiquity and the Renaissance.”

– Jonathan Crary, Columbia University

“A novel film theory … Thanks to the reasoned revelations of Pedulla we see just how challenged—if not endangered—audiovision has become in the century before us.” – Thomas Harrison, UCLA

“Fascinating … A lucid analysis that considers everybody, from the pure cinephile to the household consumer, to understand who we were, who we are today, and above all where we are likely to end up.”– Tiberia De Matteis, IL TEMPO

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GABRIELE PEDULLA is Professor of contemporary literature at the university of Rome 3 and visiting professor at Stanford. His books include a biography of the partisan-writer Beppe Fenoglio, a monograph on Machiavelli's theory of conflict, a co-edited three volume ATLAS OF ITALIAN LITERATURE and a best-selling anthology of partisan short stories, RACCONTI DELLA RESISTENZA. For his first book of fiction, the prize-winning collection of short stories, LO SPAGNOLO SENZA SFORZO (SPANISH MADE SIMPLE) he was selected as one of the 10 best Italian writers under 40 by the literary supplement of IL SOLE 24 ORE.

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ISBN: 9781844678532/ US$24.95 / £14.99 / 182 pages

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For more information or to buy the book visit:

http://www.versobooks.com/books/1092-in-broad-daylight

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Academics can request an inspection copy. For further information please go to: http://www.versobooks.com/pg/desk-copies

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