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Melodrama and Modernity: Early Sensational Cinema and Its Contexts
Contributor(s): Singer, Ben (Author)

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 ISBN: 0231113293     ISBN-13: 9780231113298
Publisher: Columbia University Press
OUR PRICE: $44.10  

Binding Type: Paperback - See All Available Formats & Editions
Published: April 2001
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Annotation: In this groundbreaking investigation into the nature and meanings of melodrama in American culture between 1880 and 1920, Ben Singer offers a challenging new reevaluation of early American cinema and the era that spawned it. Singer looks back to the sensational or "blood and thunder" melodramas (e.g., The Perils of Pauline, The Hazards of Helen, etc.) and uncovers a fundamentally modern cultural expression, one reflecting spectacular transformations in the sensory environment of the metropolis, in the experience of capitalism, in the popular imagination of gender, and in the exploitation of the thrill in popular amusement. Written with verve and panache, and illustrated with 100 striking photos and drawings, Singer's study provides an invaluable historical and conceptual map both of melodrama as a genre on stage and screen and of modernity as a pivotal idea in social theory.

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Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Performing Arts | Film - History & Criticism
- Literary Criticism | American - Hispanic American
Dewey: 791.436
LCCN: 00064547
Age Level: 22-UP
Grade Level: 17-UP
Lexile Measure: 1560(Not Available)
Series: Film and Culture
Physical Information: 0.8" H x 7" W x 9.9" L (1.50 lbs) 256 pages
Themes:
- Ethnic Orientation - Hispanic
Review Citations: Choice 07/01/2001 pg. 1969
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
In this groundbreaking investigation into the nature and meanings of melodrama in American culture between 1880 and 1920, Ben Singer offers a challenging new reevaluation of early American cinema and the era that spawned it. Singer looks back to the sensational or "blood and thunder" melodramas (e.g., The Perils of Pauline, The Hazards of Helen, etc.) and uncovers a fundamentally modern cultural expression, one reflecting spectacular transformations in the sensory environment of the metropolis, in the experience of capitalism, in the popular imagination of gender, and in the exploitation of the thrill in popular amusement. Written with verve and panache, and illustrated with 100 striking photos and drawings, Singer's study provides an invaluable historical and conceptual map both of melodrama as a genre on stage and screen and of modernity as a pivotal idea in social theory.
 
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