Film scholar releases book on ‘The Cinematic Sublime’

St. Scholastica film scholar Nathan Carroll, PhD is the editor of the newly published book “The Cinematic Sublime,” an interdisciplinary exploration bringing together the disciplines of film studies and aesthetics to examine cinema and cinematic experience.

Dr. Carroll is a professor in the Department of Communication, Theatre and Art at St. Scholastica, where he teaches courses in film studies, media criticism, and sublime aesthetics. The book’s essays are written by film scholars and philosophers from around the world, including Carroll and fellow St. Scholastica faculty member Steven Ostovich, PhD, professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Philosophy. The topics and case studies range from early silent films through classical Hollywood to avant-garde and contemporary digital cinema.

“The word ‘sublime’ is often used as shorthand for ‘cool’ or in today’s parlance, ‘awesome,’ while in the past it signified a singular experience fostering existential introspection,” Carroll said. “Really, the concept is a cultural marker that has always shifted with time. This book applies a cinematic lens to what is ‘sublime.’ This approach offers new insights into how cinema engages with traditional historical and aesthetic discourse. It will be of use to students and established scholars interested in the relationship between film and philosophy.”

“The Cinematic Sublime: Negative Pleasures, Structuring Absences” is published by Intellect Books of Bristol, England.