Spaces of Communication: Elements of Semio-Pragmatics

Description:

Spaces of Communication offers a concise introduction to semiopragmatics and condenses the intellectual trajectory of one of the foundational figures of film studies into a relatively short and accessible volume.

Brief description: Roger Odin is emeritus professor of Communication at Paris 3 University; Head of the Film and Audiovisual Institute (1983-2003); Theorist of the semio-pragmatic approach (De la fiction, 2000; Les Espaces de Communication, 2011).

Review Quotes: "It is hard to believe that it has taken almost forty years for Roger Odin's semio-pragmatic approach to finally become accessible in a book for the English-speaking world. Long before the post-cinema debate, Roger Odin started to theorize the many facets of film beyond the theatrical motion picture. Immensely productive particularly with a view to the current transformations of film, Odin's film theory continues to question and subvert established distinctions: between disciplines and theoretical schools, but also between legitimate and illegitimate objects."
- Alexandra Schneider, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz

"With scientific rigor and academic generosity, Roger Odin discloses the analytical machine that underpins his semio-pragmatic approach. Readers not only enjoy a wide breadth of examples, but also witness the trial-and-error approach that ensured the success of semio-pragmatics. At once a methodological synthesis and a balance of intellectual achievement, this book promotes an integral method for analyzing film as a communicative apparatus."
- Francesco Casetti, Yale University