2011
Abraham M. Geil
- Doctoral Candidate
- Duke University
![Picture of Abraham M. Geil](https://www.acls.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/63001FFD-0075-E011-B81F-000C293A51F7.jpg)
Abstract
This dissertation constructs a genealogy of representations of the human face in the theory and practice of cinema and new media. Beginning with the close-up of the face in silent world cinema, it proceeds through a series of transformative moments in the history of facial representation: classical and post-classical Hollywood, experimental cinema of the 1960s and early 70s, contemporary new media art, and, finally, its use as a stimulus for the imaging techniques of cognitive neuroscience. By tracking the fate of this singular object across such a broad sweep of film and media history, this project yields a uniquely powerful archive for thinking about the political and aesthetic dimensions of recognition in cinema and its digital afterlives.