The Cinema, or The Imaginary Man

The Cinema, or The Imaginary Man

Edgar Morin
Translated by Lorraine Mortimer

Table of Contents

$19.95 Paper
ISBN: 0-8166-4038-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-8166-4038-6

$60.00 Cloth
ISBN: 0-8166-4037-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-8166-4037-9

A classic work exploring the nexus of the cinematic image and the human mind.

When The Cinema, or The Imaginary Man first appeared in 1956, the movies and the moviegoing experience were generally not regarded worthy of serious scholarly consideration. Yet, French critic and social theorist Edgar Morin perceived in the cinema a complex phenomenon capable of illuminating fundamental truths about thought, imagination, and human nature—which allowed him to connect the mythic universe of gods and spirits present within the most primitive societies to the hyperreality emanating from the images projected on the screen.

Now making its English-language debut, this audacious, provocative work draws on insights from poets, filmmakers, anthropologists, and philosophers to restore to the cinema the sense of magic first enjoyed at the dawn of the medium. “We experience the cinema in a state of double consciousness,” Morin writes, “an astonishing phenomenon where the illusion of reality is inseparable from the awareness that it is really an illusion.”

“One of the hidden treasures of cinema and film theory. The long overdue English translation deserves celebration. Morin introduced a more complex approach to an understanding of the cinema and its audiences than has been dealt with before or since, which makes this work, among others, so contemporary and relevant. Morin reintroduces the imaginary as a fundamental human condition, exemplified in the process of cinema perception. The University of Minnesota Press is to be congratulated on this timely intervention.” —Leonardo

“The wonders of Morin, the prolific wunderkind, are undoubtedly abundant and often inspiring. The new availability of The Cinema and The Stars could help not only to discover some of the early writing of a highly interesting intellectual figure; they may also be an occasion to update the archaeology of film and media-culture studies with texts in which self-reflection and great prognostic potential meet with glaring rhetoric and disturbing “transdisciplinary” amalgamations.” —BookForum

“His erudite, sometimes delirious book offers insights into life both in and outside the picture-house.” —Film Comment

Edgar Morin is director of studies emeritus at France’s Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and president of the Association pour la Pensée Complexe. He is also the author of The Stars.

Lorraine Mortimer is senior lecturer of sociology and anthropology at La Trobe University, Australia.

320 pages | 5 graphs | 5 x 8 | 2005

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Translator's Acknowledgments
Translator's Introduction

The Cinema, or The Imaginary Man: An Essay in Sociological Anthropology
Prologue

1. The Cinema, the Airplane
2. The Charm of the Image
3. Metamorphosis of the Cinematograph into Cinema
4. The Soul of the Cinema
5. Objective Presence
6. The Complex of Dream and Reality
7. Birth of a Reason, Blossoming of a Language
8. The Semi-imaginary Reality of Man

Author's Preface to the 1978 Edition
Notes
Bibliography
Index of Names Cited

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The Cinema, or The Imaginary Man Edgar Morin Translated by Lorraine Mortimer Table of Contents		$19.95 Paper ISBN: 0-8166-4038-6 ISBN-13: 978-0-8166-4038-6 $60.00 Cloth ISBN: 0-8166-4037-8 ISBN-13: 978-0-8166-4037-9
A classic work exploring the nexus of the cinematic image and the human mind. When The Cinema, or The Imaginary Man first appeared in 1956, the movies and the moviegoing experience were generally not regarded worthy of serious scholarly consideration. Yet, French critic and social theorist Edgar Morin perceived in the cinema a complex phenomenon capable of illuminating fundamental truths about thought, imagination, and human nature—which allowed him to connect the mythic universe of gods and spirits present within the most primitive societies to the hyperreality emanating from the images projected on the screen. Now making its English-language debut, this audacious, provocative work draws on insights from poets, filmmakers, anthropologists, and philosophers to restore to the cinema the sense of magic first enjoyed at the dawn of the medium. “We experience the cinema in a state of double consciousness,” Morin writes, “an astonishing phenomenon where the illusion of reality is inseparable from the awareness that it is really an illusion.” “One of the hidden treasures of cinema and film theory. The long overdue English translation deserves celebration. Morin introduced a more complex approach to an understanding of the cinema and its audiences than has been dealt with before or since, which makes this work, among others, so contemporary and relevant. Morin reintroduces the imaginary as a fundamental human condition, exemplified in the process of cinema perception. The University of Minnesota Press is to be congratulated on this timely intervention.” —Leonardo “The wonders of Morin, the prolific wunderkind, are undoubtedly abundant and often inspiring. The new availability of The Cinema and The Stars could help not only to discover some of the early writing of a highly interesting intellectual figure; they may also be an occasion to update the archaeology of film and media-culture studies with texts in which self-reflection and great prognostic potential meet with glaring rhetoric and disturbing “transdisciplinary” amalgamations.” —BookForum “His erudite, sometimes delirious book offers insights into life both in and outside the picture-house.” —Film Comment Edgar Morin is director of studies emeritus at France’s Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and president of the Association pour la Pensée Complexe. He is also the author of The Stars. Lorraine Mortimer is senior lecturer of sociology and anthropology at La Trobe University, Australia. 320 pages \| 5 graphs \| 5 x 8 \| 2005 TABLE OF CONTENTS Translator's Acknowledgments Translator's Introduction The Cinema, or The Imaginary Man: An Essay in Sociological Anthropology Prologue 1. The Cinema, the Airplane 2. The Charm of the Image 3. Metamorphosis of the Cinematograph into Cinema 4. The Soul of the Cinema 5. Objective Presence 6. The Complex of Dream and Reality 7. Birth of a Reason, Blossoming of a Language 8. The Semi-imaginary Reality of Man Author's Preface to the 1978 Edition Notes Bibliography Index of Names Cited