Global Circulations of Film Theory

电影理论是关于我们认为电影是什么，这反过来又塑造了我们教授的电影的故事，人们制作的电影类型，档案馆对恢复哪些电影做出的选择，以及MUBI等流媒体服务关于将哪些电影纳入他们的资料库的决定。因此，电影理论不仅是作为一门学科的电影研究的基础，而且是电影文化的基础。近几十年来，人们对历史上被认为源于西方的电影理论进行了重大的批判性重新评估。学者们没有将理论理解为主要由欧洲和北美作家创作的一系列主要作品，而是将探索扩展到了欧美轴心之外。这种对电影理论的扩展理解为我们提出的研究奠定了基础。然而，我们的网络的目标是朝着一个新的、适当的全球方向发展，在我们看来，这个领域在很大程度上仍然是国家或地区的边界。该网络汇集了来自世界各地的电影学者，他们共同批评电影理论的西方帝国主义基础。西方的理论概念导致它在历史上只在与某些类型的写作有关的西方语境中被发现。我们对此的回应是重新提出电影理论与不同研究对象有关的问题，这些研究对象包括电影以及跨越各种文化的各种文本。我们的方法依赖于基于电影和文本的研究相结合，以图表形式描述理论在不同地点的产生、翻译和传播。我们的主要关注点是在地缘政治危机时刻跨越地理边界的对话。我们将专注于1945年后非殖民主义时代的相互关联的历史时刻，这些历史时刻相互影响，但不能相互简化。在这样的历史时刻询问什么理论将成为与整个网络参与者的共同利益相关的支点。网络包括来自阿尔及利亚、阿根廷、加拿大、法国、德国、香港、匈牙利、墨西哥、新加坡、英国和美国的同事，他们是非洲、亚洲、欧洲、拉丁美洲和苏联电影理论的领先专家。通过将这些学者联系起来，我们将通过广泛的合作研究拓宽对什么是理论以及可以做什么的理解。我们还将设想，鉴于我们的非殖民化方法，理论可能会如何继续传播。我们的网络包括电影从业者，使我们能够结合实践而不是与实践对立地追求电影理论的扩展。虽然我们的研究将通过对网站、实践和理论传播的学术讨论(将在三个在线活动中讨论)来提供信息，但我们将通过与BFI Southbank合作举办的研讨会吸引普通公众参与讨论。这一合作认识到了非学术受众在我们电视网设想的电影理论的复兴中可以发挥的关键作用。这些工作坊也将为课程改革提供重要的垫脚石。英国和美国的许多电影课程仍然将电影理论作为主要由欧洲和北美作家创作的主要作品的过程。该网络将为课程的重组开发资源，以反映其研究结果对全球理论流通的更广泛的了解。这些资料将通过网络网站以教学工具包的形式分享，以及最后的会议和出版物。我们将通过网络参与者之间的博客对话和更正式的学术反思，在网络网站上记录和传播我们的进展。我们的最后一个活动，一个为期两天的国际混合会议，将展示我们的发现，我们还将以编辑后的卷展示这些发现，这将为未来电影理论在全球发行的辩论设定议程。

Film theory is about what we think film is, and this in turn shapes the story of cinema that we teach, the kinds of films people make, the kinds of choices that archives make about which films to restore, and the decisions that streaming services such as MUBI make about what films to include in their library. Film theory is therefore fundamental, not only to Film Studies as a discipline, but to film culture as such.Recent decades have witnessed a significant critical reassessment of film theory, which was conceived historically as emanating from the West. Rather than understand theory as a procession of major works by mainly European and North American authors, scholars have extended exploration beyond the Euro-American axis. This expanded understanding of film theory underpins our proposed research. Our network aims, however, to develop in a new and properly global direction a field that in our view still remains largely nationally or regionally bounded. The network brings together film scholars from around the world who share a common critique of film theory's western imperialist foundations. Western conceptions of theory have led to it being found historically only in western contexts associated with certain kinds of writing. Our response to this is to re-pose the question of what film theory is in relation to different objects of study, which include films as well as a variety of texts across a range of cultures. Our approach relies on the conjunction of film- and text-based research to chart the generation, translation, and circulation of theory throughout different locales. Our principal focus is on conversations across geographical boundaries at moments of geopolitical crisis. We will focus on interlocking historical moments in the post-1945 age of decolonisation which influenced each other without being reducible to one another. Asking what theory is at such historical moments will serve as a pivot relevant to the shared interests of participants across the network.The network includes colleagues from Algeria, Argentina, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Mexico, Singapore, the UK, and the USA, who are leading experts in African, Asian, European, Latin American, and Soviet film theory. By connecting these scholars, we will broaden through wide-scale collaborative research the understanding of what theory is and can do. We will also envisage how theory might continue to circulate in the light of our decolonising approach. Our network includes film practitioners, enabling us to pursue the expansion of film theory in conjunction with, rather than in opposition to, practice. While our research will be informed by academic discussion of the sites, practices, and circulations of theory (to be discussed at three online events), we will draw the general public into the discussion through workshops run in partnership with BFI Southbank. This collaboration recognises the crucial role non-academic audiences can play in the re-emergence of film theory that our network envisages. The workshops will also provide vital stepping-stones towards curricular innovation. Many film programme curricula in the UK and the USA still feature film theory as a procession of major works by mainly European and North American authors. The network will develop resources for the reorganisation of curricula to reflect the more expansive understanding of the global circulation of theory resulting from its research. These will be shared in the form of teaching toolkits by means of a network website, as well as a final conference and publications.We will document and disseminate our progress on the network website via blog conversations between network participants and more formal academic reflections. Our final event, a two-day international hybrid conference, will showcase our findings, which we will also present in an edited volume that will set the agenda for debates on future global circulations of film theory.