Abstracts
Abstract
Beginning and ending with the question “what is a cinema?” and with a reconsideration of the notion of cinema’s second birth, this article examines the economic and socio-cultural dynamics of film exhibition and film-going in small-town and rural Western Europe, in particular in the Netherlands, Germany and France. Emphasis is placed on the history of itinerant film exhibition in multifunctional venues in the period after the era of the fairground shows—an important aspect of European film culture which has long been overlooked by cinema historians. Insights from these particular experiences of the cinema can help us to reconceptualize the place of cinema in both rural and urban contexts. A crucial aspect of film-going in multifunctional venues is the fact that it was located in spaces that were used for a wide range of commercial and community activities. The author thus advocates a new cinema historiography that breaks away from the fixation on the medium’s singularity to include its relation with the surrounding socio-cultural contexts in which cinema happened.
Résumé
Prenant pour point de départ et d’arrivée la question « qu’est-ce qu’un cinéma ? », et reconsidérant la notion de seconde naissance du cinéma, cet article étudie les rapports économiques et socioculturels de l’exploitation et de l’expérience cinématographiques dans les petites villes et les zones rurales d’Europe occidentale, en particulier aux Pays-Bas, en Allemagne et en France. L’accent est mis sur l’histoire du cinéma ambulant présenté dans des lieux multifonctionnels dans la période qui a suivi celle des foires — un aspect important de la culture cinématographique européenne qui a longtemps été négligé par les historiens du cinéma. Un aperçu de ces expériences particulières du cinéma peut nous aider à reconsidérer la place de ce dernier dans les contextes ruraux et urbains. Un aspect crucial de la projection de films est le fait qu’elle prenait place dans des lieux multifonctionnels, c’est-à-dire des espaces utilisés pour un large éventail d’activités commerciales et communautaires. L’auteur préconise ainsi une nouvelle historiographie du cinéma qui rompt avec la fixation sur la singularité du médium pour inclure sa relation avec les contextes socioculturels environnants dans lesquels il prend place.
Appendices
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