Evolutionism, Memetics, and Complex Adaptive Systems, or Film Studies in the Face of the Biocultural Turn
Kamila Żyto
kamila.zyto@uni.lodz.plUniversity of Lodz (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2822-8341
Abstract
Despite the significant impact of the biocultural turn on humanities, film studies only occasionally recognise the intellectual potential of the cognitive perspective of natural science. In particular, the thought of Charles Darwin and his followers seems to have been marginalised. The article outlines the barely recognised theoretical paradigm of evolutionism in film studies. The author describes the areas of film theory echoing evolutionism (e.g. cognitivism), as well as maps out new, heterogeneous fields of research emerging in film studies. These considerations are complemented by a weighing up the pros and cons of memetics, often referred to as Darwinism without biology. Last but not least, the author evokes the concept of complex adaptive systems (CAS) as a potentially useful model in the process of describing not only film texts, but film culture as a whole.
Keywords:
film theory, biocultural turn, evolutionism, memetics, complex adaptive systemsReferences
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Authors
Kamila Żytokamila.zyto@uni.lodz.pl
University of Lodz Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2822-8341
She holds an MA in Cultural Studies and a PhD in Humanities from the University of Lodz. Currently she works as a Professor in the Department of Media and Audiovisual Arts at the University of Lodz, Poland. Since 2012, she has collaborated with the Academy of Music as a lecturer in film studies. She has been active in many education projects, such as the School Film Library and the Academy of Polish Film, run by the Polish Film Institute. She writes film reviews for professional film magazines, such as Film & TV Kamera and Ekrany. She regularly participates as a member of the jury in “Camera Action”, a festival for young film critics. In 2010 she published Strategie labiryntowe w filmie fikcji [Maze Structure as a Strategy in the Fiction Film] and co-edited three other books. Her publications include numerous articles on film noir, Polish and Spanish film history, images of Jews in Polish cinema. She is a member of the Polish Society for Film and Media Studies.
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