Description

The Spirit and the Screen engages contemporary films from the perspective of pneumatology to give theologies of culture fruitful new perspectives that begin with the Spirit rather than other common theological contact points (Christology, anthropology, theological ethics, creation, eschatology, etc.). This book explores pertinent pneumatological issues that arise in film, as well as literary devices that draw allusions to the Spirit. It offers three main contributions: first, it explores how Christian understandings of the person and work of the Spirit illuminate the nature of film and film-making; second, it shows that there are in fact “Spirit figures” in film (as distinct from but inseparable from Christ-figures), even if sometimes they’re not intended as such, “Spirit-led” characters, are moved to act “prophetically,” against their inclinations and in excess of their skill or knowledge and with eccentric, life-giving creativity; third, it identifies subtle and explicit symbolizations of the Spirit in pop culture, symbolizations that requires deep, careful thinking about the Christian doctrine of the Spirit and generate new horizons for cultural analysis. The contributors of this book explore these issues, asking how Christian convictions and experiences of the Spirit might shape the way one thinks about films and film-making.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction: Beginnings and Aspirations (or: The Spirit Glows Where It Wills)
Chris E.W. Green
Part 1 | The Spirit and the Nature of Film(making)
Chapter 2 The Move of the Spirit: Pneumatology and Temporality in Malick's Cinema
Chris E.W. Green
Chapter 3 Feed the Birds: Mary Poppins, Film Musicals, and the Spirit of Life
Kutter Callaway
Chapter 4 Traditioning and the Spirit in Martin Scorsese's Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story
Jeffrey S. Lamp
Chapter 5 Power of the Spirit: Sayers and Cinema
Crystal L. Downing
Part 2 | Spirit Figures
Chapter 6 POWER. GRACE. WISDOM. WONDER.: The Paraclete in Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman
Steven Félix-Jäger
Chapter 7 Exegeting Samwise the (Brave) Advocate
Lucia M. Sanders
Chapter 8 Paciencia y Fe: The Spirited Presence of Abuela Claudia in In the Heights
Wilmer Estrada-Carrasquillo
Chapter 9 The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come': A Pneumatological Exploration of Te Fiti in Disney's Moana
D. Coleby Delgado
Part 3 | The Spirit-led Life
Cha

Product details

Published 12 May 2023
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 222
ISBN 9781978714649
Imprint Fortress Academic
Dimensions 239 x 159 mm
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

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