A Philosophy of the Screenplay

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Routledge, Jan 17, 2013 - Philosophy - 284 pages

Recently, scholars in a variety of disciplines—including philosophy, film and media studies, and literary studies—have become interested in the aesthetics, definition, and ontology of the screenplay. To this end, this volume addresses the fundamental philosophical questions about the nature of the screenplay: What is a screenplay? Is the screenplay art—more specifically, literature? What kind of a thing is a screenplay? Nannicelli argues that the screenplay is a kind of artefact; as such, its boundaries are determined collectively by screenwriters, and its ontological nature is determined collectively by both writers and readers of screenplays. Any plausible philosophical account of the screenplay must be strictly constrained by our collective creative and appreciative practices, and must recognize that those practices indicate that at least some screenplays are artworks.

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Contents

Introduction
1
Definition
9
Art Status
59
Ontology
108
Appreciation
189
Notes
219
Bibliography
251
Index
263
Copyright

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About the author (2013)

Ted Nannicelli is Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at the University of Queensland, Australia

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