Introduction

This introductory chapter establishes the theoretical framework that underpins the main body of the book. I precisely delineate what I mean by the term ‘cinematic essay’ and argue that our collective understanding of the mode would benefit from a more focused scholarly examination of the role played by the technical apparatus in the construction of essayistic discourse. I provide an overview of the key academic studies that have advanced our comprehension of the essay as both a literary and an audio-visual mode, address debates surrounding the validity of the term, and highlight its key strategies of articulating knowledge. I demonstrate that, although the cinematic essay has often been discussed in relation to modernity, experimentation, and innovation, it is rarely examined in relation to technology. I then argue that the self-reflexivity of the cinematic essay makes it an ideal vehicle for materially theorising the myriad changes brought about by the digitisation of cinema. This introduction concludes with a concise summary of the chapters that follow.