Deleuze, Cinema and the Thought of the World - (Plateaus - New Directions in Deleuze Studies) by Allan James Thomas (Paperback)

About the Book

Deleuze turns to the cinema because its formal resources enable it to 'think' the relation between movement and duration in ways that philosophy cannot. Discover the nature of the philosophical problems that Deleuze turns to the cinema to resolve and how resources of the cinema enable him to do what philosophy alone cannot.

Book Synopsis

Why does Gilles Deleuze write about the cinema to address specific philosophical problems? Deleuze turns to the cinema precisely because its formal resources enable it to 'think' the relation between movement and duration in ways that philosophy cannot. Allan James Thomas unpacks the nature of the philosophical problems that Deleuze turns to the cinema to resolve and shows how resources of the cinema enable him to do so where philosophy alone cannot. He offers new insights into the conceptual underpinnings both of the Cinema books themselves and of the trajectory of Deleuzian philosophy.

From the Back Cover

'Allen James Thomas' superb book is a wonderfully detailed analysis of Deleuze's work on the cinema, but it is also a profound work of philosophy. For Deleuze, great filmmakers are also great thinkers who happen to think in terms of images rather than concepts. By reading Deleuze through the lens of writers as diverse as Bergson, Blanchot, Badiou, and Barradori, Thomas's book is a wide-ranging exploration of the Deleuzian thesis that cinema must be understood, above all, as an act of thinking.' Daniel W. Smith, Purdue University Why does Gilles Deleuze write about the cinema as a philosopher? Despite their title, Gilles Deleuze's Cinema books are not 'about' the cinema: they are works of philosophy first and foremost, even if this has yet to be fully recognised. Deleuze turns to the cinema in order to address specific philosophical problems, precisely because the formal resources of the cinema enable it to 'think' the relation between movement and duration in ways that philosophy cannot. Allan James Thomas unpacks the nature of the philosophical problems that Deleuze turns to the cinema to resolve, and shows both how and why the resources of the cinema enable him to do so where philosophy alone cannot. Thomas offers new insights into the conceptual underpinnings both of the Cinema books themselves and of the trajectory of Deleuzian philosophy as a whole. Allan James Thomas is Lecturer in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University, Australia Cover image: Trees in the morning mist, 2009 (c) Yvan Travert/akg-images Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-3279-5 Barcode

Review Quotes

After D.N. Rodowick, Ronald Bogue, Paola Marrati, David Deamer, David Martin-Jones and Pierre Montebello, it might have been imagined that there was no need for a further monograph on Gilles Deleuze's Cinema books. Deleuze, Cinema and the Thought of the World proves any such supposition wrong. Indeed, it forced me to think and rethink at every turn. [...] [an] indispensable contribution this important book makes to any (re)thinking of these and many other matters.--Robert Lapsley "Film-Philosophy"

Allan James Thomas' superb book is a wonderfully detailed analysis of Deleuze's work on the cinema, but it is also a profound work of philosophy. For Deleuze, great filmmakers are also great thinkers who happen to think in terms of images rather than concepts. By reading Deleuze through the lens of writers as diverse as Bergson, Blanchot, Badiou, and Barradori, Thomas's book is a wide-ranging exploration of the Deleuzian thesis that cinema must be understood, above all, as an act of thinking.-- "Daniel W. Smith, Purdue University"

The book is compelling and lucid and it will interest students and scholars of film theory as well as those studying Continental philosophy or Deleuze in general. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.--D. W Rothermel, California State University, Chico "Choice"

About the Author

Allan James Thomas is Lecturer in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University.