Memento

ISBN-13: 9780415774734 / Angielski / Twarda / 2009 / 208 str.

Andrew Kania

Opis

Within a short space of time, the film Memento has already been hailed as a modern classic. Memorably narrated from the perspective of the heavily tattooed Leonard, the film’s central character, it explores his chaotic and visceral quest to discover his identity, and the identity of his wife’s killers, despite his inability to form new long-term memories.

This is the first book to explore and address the myriad philosophical questions raised by the film, including personal identity, free will, memory, knowledge, and action. It also explores problems raised by the film for aesthetics, such as narrative structure, ontology and genre. Beginning with a helpful introduction that places the film in context, specially commissioned chapters examine the following topics:

• Memory, emotion and self-consciousness
• Agency, free will and responsibility
• Personal identity
• Narrative and popular cinema
• Film genre such as neo-noir
• Memento and multimedia

Including annotated further reading at the end of each chapter, Memento is essential reading for students interested in philosophy and film studies.

Spis treści

Introduction Andrew Kania  1. Moral Monster or Responsible Person? Memento’s Leonard as a Case Study in Defective Agency Michael McKenna  2. Leonard’s System: Why Doesn’t It Work? Joseph Levine  3. The Feel of the World: Exograms, Habits, and the Confusion of Types of Memory John Sutton  4. The Value of Memory: Reflections on Memento Raymond Martin  5. Memento and Personal Identity: Do We Have it Backwards? Richard Hanley  6. Memento and the Phenomenology of Comprehending Motion Picture Narration Noël Carroll  7. Reconfiguring the Past: Memento and Neo-Noir Deborah Knight and George McKnight  8. What is Memento? Ontology and Interpretation in Mainstream Film Andrew Kania  Index

O autorze

Andrew Kania is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Trinity University, San Antonio, USA. His principle research is in the philosophy of music, literature, and film. He is the editor (with Theodore Gracyk) of The Routledge Companion to Philosophy and Music.