Writing and Rewriting Film History

• Main Author: Thomas Elsaesser
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universitetsforlaget 1995-01-01
• Series: Norsk Medietidsskrift
• Online Access: https://www.idunn.no/nmt/1995/02/writing_and_rewriting_film_history

This article gives a brief overview of the present state of studies in Early Cinema (roughly, the period from 1895 to 1917), emphasizing the differences between the so-called 'New Film History' and more traditional ways of conceptualizing the history of the cinema. It is argued that Early Cinema has become important for several interconnected reasons, both historical and theoretical, and that the study of early cinema is important not only for its own sake, but for our understanding of contemporary -and maybe even future- media culture. What is suggested is that we need to revise our notion of history, where in the case of the cinema, we need besides a history also something like an archeology, and maybe even an archaeology of our future.