ABSTRACT

The article identifies some of the pedagogical challenges that arise in relation to technological, institutional and discursive changes in the production, circulation and reception of audiovisual texts which suggest a re-negotiation in the ways in which we value, conceptualise and engage with audiovisual texts. It relates these challenges to the specific pedagogic environment of British Film Studies by considering in detail the institutional context within which they operate. It focuses on specific issues of legitimisation as they arise when the belief in the 'extraordinary' nature of the film experience is replaced by an all-engulfing technology that enables the production and enjoyment of 'banal' works. It concludes by proposing a way in which such perceived 'banality' can be creatively recuperated within Film Studies.

Keywords: legitimisation; digital; cinephilia; pedagogy; BFI