Unit details
AIH263 - "History Written with Lightning:" Film and the Past
| Offered at: | (B, G, X) |
|---|---|
| Credit point(s): | 1 |
| Offerings: | Trimester 2 |
| EFTSL value: | 0.125 |
| Previously: | This unit was titled American Dreams in 2011. |
| Unit chair: | K Beattie |
| Incompatible with: | AIH363 |
| Note: Online teaching methods require internet access. Please refer to the most current computer specifications. | |
Content
After watching D.W. Griffith’s cinematic interpretation of the recent American past, Birth of a Nation (1915), the U.S. President Woodrow Wilson commented that the film was ‘like writing history with lightning.’ The electrifying effect of film applied to representations of the past has resulted in an innovative way of ‘writing’ history which extends and informs the so-called visual turn in historical analysis. This unit examines the representation of the past within a range of fiction and nonfiction films from the earliest days of cinema to the present. Historical events analyzed in this way may include, among others aspects, the American frontier, British society in the 1950s, the experience of women in the twentieth century, and the war in Vietnam. Topics studied include narrative or ‘story-telling’ strategies; aspects of film language, including montage; realism; film genre; and film music and the historical event. Within and through an examination of the ways in which film represents the past the unit simultaneously addresses two famous questions from the disciplines of historical studies and film studies: André Bazin’s ‘What is cinema?’ and E.H. Carr’s ‘What is history?’.
Assessment
Essay 2000 words 60%, Online test 20%, Online test 20%
Unit Fee Information
| Student Contribution Rate* | Student Contribution Rate** | Student Contribution Rate*** | Fee rate - Domestic Students | Fee rate - International students |
| $706 | $706 | $706 | $2138 | $2273 |
* Student contribution rate for Commonwealth Supported students who commenced studies from 2010
** Student contribution rate for Commonwealth Supported students who commenced studies from 2009
*** Student contribution rate for Commonwealth Supported students who commenced studies from 2008
Please note: Unit fees listed do not apply to Deakin Prime students.
