1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910155635603321

Autore

Balaisis Nicholas

Titolo

Cuban Film Media, Late Socialism, and the Public Sphere : Imperfect Aesthetics / / by Nicholas Balaisis

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York : , : Palgrave Macmillan US : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2016

ISBN

9781137584311

1137584319

Edizione

[1st ed. 2016.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (XII, 201 p. 23 illus., 19 illus. in color.)

Collana

Global Cinema, , 2634-596X

Disciplina

791.43098

Soggetti

Motion pictures, American

Ethnology - Latin America

Culture

America - Politics and government

Motion pictures - History

Communication

Latin American Film and TV

Latin American Culture

American Politics

Film and TV History

Media and Communication

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Includes index.

Sommario/riassunto

This book maps the aesthetic experience of late socialism through Cuban film and media practice. It shows how economic and material scarcity as well as political uncertainty is expressed aesthetically in films from the period following the collapse of the Soviet Union, a characteristic described as imperfect aesthetics. The films examined in the book draw attention to the unique temporal experience of late socialism, a period marked both by rapid change and frustrating stasis, nostalgia for Cuba’s past and anxiousness about its future. Aesthetic modes such as melodrama and irony, and stylistic elements such as



direct address and the long take, communicate the temporal experience of late socialism in Cuba, where new global traffic and a globalizing economy co-exist with iconic socialist features of the Cuban revolution. Film aesthetics constitute an important public dimension within this context, serving as a site of political and cultural critique amidst political uncertainty. In examining large-scale international co-productions as well as regional film collectives and amateur media making, the book traces the aesthetic continuities between contemporary film practices and those of the immediate post-revolutionary period, showing how the Cuban revolution continues to be an important touchstone for contemporary Cuban filmmakers in the face of new and imminent change. .