Thomas Elsaesser
Encyclopedia
Thomas Elsaesser is an international film historian and professor
of Film and Television Studies at the University of Amsterdam.
, he spent his childhood in Upper Franconia
and in 1951 moved with his family to Mannheim
, where from 1955 to 1962 he attended a Humanist Gymnasium, before studying English
and German Literature
at the Ruprecht-Karl University in Heidelberg
. In 1963 Elsaesser left Germany for the United Kingdom, where he studied English literature at the University of Sussex
(1963–1966); after receiving his B.A. degree there, he spent a year at the Sorbonne
in Paris (1967–68). In 1971 he received his doctorate in Comparative Literature
with a thesis on Jules Michelet
and Thomas Carlyle
’s Histories of the French Revolution from the University of Sussex.
In 1968 he started at the University of Sussex a film journal (Brighton Film Review), which he continued to edit from 1971 to 1975 under the name of Monogram in London
, encouraged by Peter Wollen
and supported by a grant from the Education Department of the British Film Institute
. Writing as a film critic and theorist of classical Hollywood cinema, it was his essay on Hollywood melodrama (Tales of Sound and Fury, 1972) that made Elsaesser known internationally.
From 1972 to 1976 Elsaesser taught English, French
and Comparative Literature literature at the University of East Anglia
. In 1976 he established there, together with Charles Barr, one of the first independent centers for Film Studies in the UK, with a full undergraduate, MA and PhD
program. In addition to seminars on early cinema, on Alfred Hitchcock
and Fritz Lang
, Elsaesser also initiated a course on the cinema of the Weimar Republic
, which he co-taught with his colleague W.G. Sebald.
In 1991, Elsaesser was appointed to a chair at the University of Amsterdam. There he founded the Department of Film and Television Studies, which he headed until 2000. In 1992 he initiated an international Master's and Doctoral Program, a book series (Film Culture in Transition, published by Amsterdam University Press / Chicago University Press) and he was co-founder of the Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis (ASCA), set up after the US-American model of a Humanities Graduate School. In 2005 Elsaesser founded the international MA Programme in Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image.
Since 1976 Elsaesser regularly teaches as a visiting professor at American universities notably at the University of Iowa
, University of California
(Los Angeles
, San Diego
, Berkeley
, Irvine
, Santa Barbara
), New York University
and Yale University
. From 1993-1999 he was Professor II at the University of Bergen
, Norway, and in 2005-2006 he held the Ingmar Bergman Chair at Stockholm University
. In 2006-2007 he was a Leverhulme Professor at the University of Cambridge
. In addition, he taught several times as a visiting professor at the University of Hamburg
, the Free University of Berlin
and the University of Vienna
. In 2003 he was a Fellow at the IFK-International Research Center for Cultural Studies Vienna, in 2004 Fellow at the Sackler Institute of the University of Tel Aviv and in 2007 Overseas Fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge. Since 2005 Elsaesser has also taught one semester a year at Yale University as a visiting professor.
From 2000-2005 he was in charge of an international research project on "Cinema Europe" at the University of Amsterdam. The project resulted in several book publications on European cinema and film history, such as a study on the relationship between Hollywood and Europe (European Cinema - Face to Face with Hollywood), on Contemporary Cinephilia (Cinephilia - Movies, Love and Memory), on the European film avant-garde and film society movement (Moving Forward Looking Back), on Lars von Trier
’s cinema as gaming prototype (Playing the Waves) and the European Film Festival circuit (Film Festivals - From European Geopolitics to Global Cinephilia). Other studies from the project were devoted to comparative studies, such as Post-classical Narration and World Cinema, Cinema, War and Memory, Finnish Visual Culture, Music in European cinema of the 1990s and several studies on European Cities and Media Culture.
Elsaesser is an important representative of international film studies, whose books and essays on film theory
, genre theory, Hollywood, film, history, archeology media and new media
, the European cinema d'auteur and installation art
have been published in more than 20 languages. Elsaesser is known primarily for his studies on almost every period of German film history, from early film (A Second Life: German Cinema’s First Decade), the cinema of the Weimar Republic (Weimar Cinema and After: Germany’s Historical Imaginary) and Fritz Lang (Metroplis), including the much-cited New German Cinema – A History, as well as a monograph on Rainer Werner Fassbinder
, a study on the afterlife of the Nazi era in German post-war film, an anthology
on the work of Harun Farocki
and The BFI Companion to German Cinema.
Besides his publications on German cinema, Elsaesser has also edited and co-edited collections on Early Cinema, Television, New Media, as well as co-authoring a book on Contemporary Hollywood (Studying Contemporary American Film, with Warren Buckland) and an innovative Introduction to Film Theory (Film Theory: An Introduction through the Senses, with Malte Hagener).
Film Conference for the best international book in cinema studies.
In 2006, Elsaesser received the Royal Order of the Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw. In 2008 the Society for Film and Media Studies honored him with a "Life Membership". Also in 2008 he was elected Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy
.
On the occasion of Elsaesser’s 60th birthday Die Spur durch den Spiegel was edited by Malte Hagener, Johannes N. Schmidt und Michael Wedel. A further "Festschrift" was published for his 65th birthday, with contributions by colleagues and former students: Mind the Screen: Media Concepts According to Thomas Elsaesser.
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Film and Television Studies at the University of Amsterdam.
Biography
Thomas Elsaesser was born in 1943 in Berlin. The grandson of the architect Martin ElsaesserMartin Elsaesser
Martin Elsaesser was a German architect and professor of architecture. He is especially well known for the many churches he built...
, he spent his childhood in Upper Franconia
Upper Franconia
Upper Franconia is a Regierungsbezirk of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia , all now part of the German Federal State of Bayern .With more than 200 independent breweries which brew...
and in 1951 moved with his family to Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
, where from 1955 to 1962 he attended a Humanist Gymnasium, before studying English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
and German Literature
German studies
German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents, and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German history, and German politics in addition to the...
at the Ruprecht-Karl University in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
. In 1963 Elsaesser left Germany for the United Kingdom, where he studied English literature at the University of Sussex
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is an English public research university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, within the city of Brighton and Hove. The University received its Royal Charter in August 1961....
(1963–1966); after receiving his B.A. degree there, he spent a year at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
in Paris (1967–68). In 1971 he received his doctorate in Comparative Literature
Comparative literature
Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the literature of two or more different linguistic, cultural or national groups...
with a thesis on Jules Michelet
Jules Michelet
Jules Michelet was a French historian. He was born in Paris to a family with Huguenot traditions.-Early life:His father was a master printer, not very prosperous, and Jules assisted him in the actual work of the press...
and Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was...
’s Histories of the French Revolution from the University of Sussex.
In 1968 he started at the University of Sussex a film journal (Brighton Film Review), which he continued to edit from 1971 to 1975 under the name of Monogram in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, encouraged by Peter Wollen
Peter Wollen
Peter Wollen is a film theorist and writer. He studied English at Christ Church, Oxford. Both political journalist and film theorist, Wollen's Signs and Meaning in the Cinema , helped to transform the discipline of film studies by incorporating the methodology of structuralism and...
and supported by a grant from the Education Department of the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
. Writing as a film critic and theorist of classical Hollywood cinema, it was his essay on Hollywood melodrama (Tales of Sound and Fury, 1972) that made Elsaesser known internationally.
From 1972 to 1976 Elsaesser taught English, French
French literature
French literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than French. Literature written in French language, by citizens...
and Comparative Literature literature at the University of East Anglia
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
. In 1976 he established there, together with Charles Barr, one of the first independent centers for Film Studies in the UK, with a full undergraduate, MA and PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
program. In addition to seminars on early cinema, on Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
and Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
, Elsaesser also initiated a course on the cinema of the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
, which he co-taught with his colleague W.G. Sebald.
In 1991, Elsaesser was appointed to a chair at the University of Amsterdam. There he founded the Department of Film and Television Studies, which he headed until 2000. In 1992 he initiated an international Master's and Doctoral Program, a book series (Film Culture in Transition, published by Amsterdam University Press / Chicago University Press) and he was co-founder of the Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis (ASCA), set up after the US-American model of a Humanities Graduate School. In 2005 Elsaesser founded the international MA Programme in Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image.
Since 1976 Elsaesser regularly teaches as a visiting professor at American universities notably at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
, University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
(Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
), New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
and Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. From 1993-1999 he was Professor II at the University of Bergen
University of Bergen
The University of Bergen is located in Bergen, Norway. Although founded as late as 1946, academic activity had taken place at Bergen Museum as far back as 1825. The university today serves more than 14,500 students...
, Norway, and in 2005-2006 he held the Ingmar Bergman Chair at Stockholm University
Stockholm University
Stockholm University is a state university in Stockholm, Sweden. It has over 28,000 students at four faculties, making it one of the largest universities in Scandinavia. The institution is also frequently regarded as one of the top 100 universities in the world...
. In 2006-2007 he was a Leverhulme Professor at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. In addition, he taught several times as a visiting professor at the University of Hamburg
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...
, the Free University of Berlin
Free University of Berlin
Freie Universität Berlin is one of the leading and most prestigious research universities in Germany and continental Europe. It distinguishes itself through its modern and international character. It is the largest of the four universities in Berlin. Research at the university is focused on the...
and the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
. In 2003 he was a Fellow at the IFK-International Research Center for Cultural Studies Vienna, in 2004 Fellow at the Sackler Institute of the University of Tel Aviv and in 2007 Overseas Fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge. Since 2005 Elsaesser has also taught one semester a year at Yale University as a visiting professor.
From 2000-2005 he was in charge of an international research project on "Cinema Europe" at the University of Amsterdam. The project resulted in several book publications on European cinema and film history, such as a study on the relationship between Hollywood and Europe (European Cinema - Face to Face with Hollywood), on Contemporary Cinephilia (Cinephilia - Movies, Love and Memory), on the European film avant-garde and film society movement (Moving Forward Looking Back), on Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches, and have frequently received strongly divided critical opinion....
’s cinema as gaming prototype (Playing the Waves) and the European Film Festival circuit (Film Festivals - From European Geopolitics to Global Cinephilia). Other studies from the project were devoted to comparative studies, such as Post-classical Narration and World Cinema, Cinema, War and Memory, Finnish Visual Culture, Music in European cinema of the 1990s and several studies on European Cities and Media Culture.
Elsaesser is an important representative of international film studies, whose books and essays on film theory
Film theory
Film theory is an academic discipline that aims to explore the essence of the cinema and provides conceptual frameworks for understanding film's relationship to reality, the other arts, individual viewers, and society at large...
, genre theory, Hollywood, film, history, archeology media and new media
New media
New media is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community...
, the European cinema d'auteur and installation art
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
have been published in more than 20 languages. Elsaesser is known primarily for his studies on almost every period of German film history, from early film (A Second Life: German Cinema’s First Decade), the cinema of the Weimar Republic (Weimar Cinema and After: Germany’s Historical Imaginary) and Fritz Lang (Metroplis), including the much-cited New German Cinema – A History, as well as a monograph on Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Rainer Werner Maria Fassbinder was a German movie director, screenwriter and actor. He is considered one of the most important representatives of the New German Cinema.He maintained a frenetic pace in film-making...
, a study on the afterlife of the Nazi era in German post-war film, an anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
on the work of Harun Farocki
Harun Farocki
Harun Farocki is a German filmmaker.He has made over 90 films, the vast majority of them short experimental documentaries...
and The BFI Companion to German Cinema.
Besides his publications on German cinema, Elsaesser has also edited and co-edited collections on Early Cinema, Television, New Media, as well as co-authoring a book on Contemporary Hollywood (Studying Contemporary American Film, with Warren Buckland) and an innovative Introduction to Film Theory (Film Theory: An Introduction through the Senses, with Malte Hagener).
Awards
His book New German Cinema: A History won both the 1990 Jay Leyda Prize (awarded by New York University) and the Nancy Singer Kovacs Prize (awarded by the Society for Cinema and Media Studies). His Weimar Cinema and After: Germany's Historical Imaginary received once more the Nancy Singer Kovacs Prize for best film book of 1998. His book European Cinema Face to Face with Hollywood won the 2006 Premio Limina-Carnica, an annual prize awarded by the University of UdineUniversity of Udine
The University of Udine is a university in the city of Udine . It was founded in 1978 as part of the reconstruction plan of Friuli after the earthquake in 1976...
Film Conference for the best international book in cinema studies.
In 2006, Elsaesser received the Royal Order of the Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw. In 2008 the Society for Film and Media Studies honored him with a "Life Membership". Also in 2008 he was elected Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
.
On the occasion of Elsaesser’s 60th birthday Die Spur durch den Spiegel was edited by Malte Hagener, Johannes N. Schmidt und Michael Wedel. A further "Festschrift" was published for his 65th birthday, with contributions by colleagues and former students: Mind the Screen: Media Concepts According to Thomas Elsaesser.
Secondary Literature
- Mind the Screen. Media Concepts According to Thomas Elsaesser, edited by Jaap Kooijman, Patricia Pisters, Wanda Strauven, Amsterdam University Press, 2008. ISBN 9089640258; EAN 9789089640253
External links
- Elsaesser Homepage
- http://www.fachinformation-filmwissenschaft.de/autor/elsaesser.html
- online essay: "Constructive Instability"