Global Circulations of Film Theory

电影理论是关于我们对电影的看法，这反过来又塑造了我们所教授的电影故事，人们制作的电影类型，档案馆对哪些电影进行修复的选择，以及MUBI等流媒体服务对将哪些电影纳入其库的决定。因此，电影理论不仅是电影研究这门学科的基础，也是电影文化的基础。近几十年来，人们对电影理论进行了重大的批判性重新评估，在历史上，电影理论被认为源自西方。学者们不再把理论理解为主要由欧洲和北美作家撰写的一系列重要作品，而是将探索延伸到欧美轴心之外。这种对电影理论的扩展理解是我们提出的研究的基础。然而，我们的网络的目标是朝着一个新的和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界限。该网络汇集了来自世界各地的电影学者，他们对电影理论的西方帝国主义基础有着共同的批评。西方的理论概念导致它在历史上只能在与某些类型的写作相关的西方语境中被发现。对此，我们的回应是重新提出电影理论与不同研究对象的关系问题，这些研究对象包括电影以及各种文化背景下的各种文本。我们的方法依赖于结合电影和文本为基础的研究，以图表的产生，翻译和流通的理论在不同的地方。我们的主要重点是在地缘政治危机时刻跨越地理边界的对话。我们将重点关注1945年后非殖民化时代中相互关联的历史时刻，这些时刻相互影响，但又互不关联。在这样的历史时刻询问什么是理论，将成为与整个网络参与者的共同利益相关的支点。该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主要专家。通过将这些学者联系起来，我们将通过大规模的合作研究扩大对理论是什么以及理论可以做什么的理解。我们还将设想如何根据我们的非殖民化办法继续传播理论。我们的网络包括电影从业者，使我们能够与实践相结合，而不是与实践对立，追求电影理论的扩展。虽然我们的研究将通过对地点、实践和理论传播的学术讨论（将在三个在线活动中讨论）来获得信息，但我们将通过与BFI南岸合作举办的研讨会吸引公众参与讨论。这种合作认识到非学术观众在我们的网络设想的电影理论的重新出现中可以发挥的关键作用。讲习班还将为课程创新提供重要的垫脚石。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。该网络将为课程重组开发资源，以反映其研究成果对理论全球流通的更广泛理解。这些将以教学工具包的形式通过网络网站以及最后的会议和出版物进行分享。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是为期两天的国际混合会议，将展示我们的发现，我们也将在一个编辑过的卷中提出，这将为关于未来电影理论全球流通的辩论设定议程。

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.