2 Modes of Film Analysis: Poetics vs Hermeneutics

In this video, I discuss two distinct approaches to the analysis of artworks: poetics and hermeneutics. I'm drawing the distinction from Jonathan Culler's book Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction. First, I provide examples of the difference between poetics and hermeneutics by analyzing a clip from the film The Shining (Kubrick, 1980). Then, I look more broadly at where poetics-centric and hermeneutics-centric analysis occurs in academic film studies and in YouTube film analysis. Some topics I examine include "hermeneutics of suspicion," the relationship between hermeneutics and "symptomatic reading," and the relationship between poetics and "formal" analysis. Texts mentioned include David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson's Film Art, Susan Sontag's "Against Interpretation," "John Ford's Young Mr. Lincoln" by the editors of Cahiers du Cinema, and Siegfried Kracauer's From Caligari to Hitler.

[willtobias]

I probably owe you $100, 000 for this education, thank you.

[nathandunkerley]

Thanks for a great video lecture series!

I learned a lot more than I would've by just reading a textbook or watching unstructured film analysis Youtube videos.

[NicholasStanton]

Excellent video! I really appreciate how you judiciously cover these two poles. As I was watching, I couldn't help but try to situate Deleuze's work along this spectrum, and the effort was actually productive and revelatory. I'll take a crack at it: Poetics and Hermeneutics each seem to rely on mutually exclusive assumptions. Poetics begins its work by assuming a meaning or effect of the object in question in order to analyze its formal properties, while hermeneutics begins its work by assuming the formal properties of the object in question in order to analyze possible meanings. Deleuze seems to be eschewing both of these assumptions. He is deeply interested not only in how the formal properties of a film may achieve an intended meaning, but perhaps more profoundly how the given formal properties may achieve an unintended meaning, something radically different, a novel way of thinking. We begin our analysis of the formal properties (poetics) without a final cause/destination in mind. Does this make sense?

LOVE your Deleuze videos, BTW. Please produce more!!!

[kaye_kang]

I loved Jonathan Culler's book In Pursuit of Signs, it's a great defense of semiotics. Glad to see you're using him in film analysis too. I'm also glad to see the Cahiers du Cinema essay on John Ford's Young Mr. Lincoln talked about here. For such a famous essay it isn't really talked a lot about in Film Theory classes, at least the ones I've taken.

[DelightfulRain]

What an excellent video. Thank you for sharing!

[adnanemrabiti]

Thanks for your explanation, it's really helpful.

[misao]

So poetics is the manufacturing of expressive emotions and meanings, being active and "sculpting", and hermeneutics is just the interpretation. How nice.

[mehrdadp]

Hello Professor. Thanks for your great video essays, would you please explain about David Bordwell and Cognitive film theory?

[MrRajaalam]

This is a very nice video you have made. I want to know if there are other perspectives other than this binary of poetics and hermeneutics. Thank you.

[saiashwin]

Can Poetics and Hermeneutics be described as How It Is What It Is? vs Why It Is What It Is?

[aartie]

Hi, I just have 1 question, can you also analyse ordinary documentaries poetically, if so are there any works that I could consult?