TEHRAN – “Psychoanalytic Film Theory and The Rules of the Game” by Todd McGowan has recently been published in Persian.

Now is the publisher of the book translated by Ali Qasemi.

The Film Theory in Practice Series fills a gaping hole in the world of film theory. By marrying the explanation of film theory with the interpretation of a film, the volumes provide discrete examples of how film theory can serve as the basis for textual analysis. 

The first book in the series, “Psychoanalytic Film Theory and The Rules of the Game”, offers a concise introduction to psychoanalytic film theory in jargon-free language and shows how this theory can be deployed to interpret Jean Renoir’s classic film. 

It traces the development of psychoanalytic film theory through its foundation in the thought of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan through its contemporary manifestation in the work of theorists like Slavoj Zizek and Joan Copjec. 

This history will help students and scholars who are eager to learn more about this important area of film theory and bring the concepts of psychoanalytic film theory into practice through a detailed interpretation of the film.

Todd McGowan is committed to the idea that theoretical exploration of questions about existence, the psyche, and society can contribute in tangible ways to the creative process. 

His classes often focus on major theoretical figures like Hegel, Marx, or Freud and delve into how their ideas manifest themselves in the most important films, television series and other media texts. 

He has written books on comedy, capitalism and various filmmakers, such as “Only a Joke Can Save Us: A Theory of Comedy”, “Capitalism and Desire: The Psychic Cost of Free Markets” and “The Impossible David Lynch”. 

His work on psychoanalytic film theory has provided a new way of thinking about the relationship between the spectator and the filmic image as founded on desire rather than identification. 

The unifying thread of all these projects is the belief that theory has the ability to shed fresh light on what seems firmly established, and that it can enrich both our lives and our creative endeavors. 

This is reflected in classes such as “Noir Marx”, “Existentialism and the Teen Film”, “The Psychoanalytic François Truffaut” and “Atemporal Cinema”.

Photo: Front cover of the Persian edition of Todd McGowan’s book “Psychoanalytic Film Theory and The Rules of the Game”.

MMS/YAW