R O G FILM THEORY E SPACES OF COMMUNICATION R IN MEDIA HISTORY O D ELEMENTS OF SEMIO-PRAGMATICS I N ROGER ODIN S P A C E S O F C O M M U N I C A T I O N Spaces of Communication Film Theory in Media History Film Theory in Media History explores the epistemological and theoretical foundations of the study of film through texts by classical authors as well as anthologies and monographs on key issues and developments in film theory. Adopting a historical perspective, but with a firm eye to the further development of the field, the series provides a platform for ground-breaking new research into film theory and media history and features high-profile editorial projects that offer resources for teaching and scholarship. Combining the book form with open access online publishing the series reaches the broadest possible audience of scholars, students, and other readers with a passion for film and theory. Series editors Prof. Dr. Vinzenz Hediger, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany Weihong Bao, University of California, Berkeley, United States Dr. Trond Lundemo, Stockholm University, Sweden Editorial Board Members Dudley Andrew, Yale University, United States Raymond Bellour, CNRS Paris, France Chris Berry, Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom Francesco Casetti, Yale University, United States Thomas Elsaesser, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands Jane Gaines, Columbia University, United States Andre Gaudreault, University of Montreal, Canada Gertrud Koch, Free University of Berlin, Germany John MacKay, Yale University, United States Markus Nornes, University of Michigan, United States Patricia Pisters, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands Leonardo Quaresima, University of Udine, Italy David Rodowick, University of Chicago, United States Philip Rosen, Brown University, United States Petr Szczepanik, Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic Brian Winston, Lincoln University, United Kingdom Film Theory in Media History is published in cooperation with the Permanent Seminar for the History of Film Theories. Spaces of Communication Elements of Semio-Pragmatics Roger Odin With an Introduction by Vinzenz Hediger Amsterdam University Press Les espaces de communication @ 2011 by Presses Universitaires de Grenoble – Traduit par Ciaran O’Faolain avec l’aide de la Région Rhône Alpes Translation: Ciarán Ó Faoláin Cover illustration: Roger Odin photographed by his son Paul Emmanuel Cover design: Suzan Beijer Lay-out: Crius Group, Hulshout isbn 978 94 6298 714 2 e-isbn 978 90 4853 866 9 doi 10.5117/9789462987142 nur 670 Creative Commons License CC BY NC ND (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0)  The authors / Amsterdam University Press B.V., Amsterdam 2022 Some rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, any part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise). Table of Contents A Democracy of Readings and Objects : Roger Odin’s Contribution to the Theory of Film 9 Vinzenz Hediger What We Make of Images and Sounds: Semio-Pragmatics as Approach and Method 12 Establishing a Discipline, Cultivating a Field: Roger Odin and Film Studies in France 17 Moving Semiotics Forward: Semio-Pragmatics and Film Theory since the 1960s 21 Beware of the Crypt: Semio-Pragmatics and the Question of Communication 29 After the Elegy of Cinema: Semio-Pragmatics and the State of Film Studies 31 Spaces of Communication: Elements of Semio-Pragmatics 35 Roger Odin Foreword and Acknowledgements 37 Introduction: The Semio-Pragmatic Model 41 On the Difficulty of Getting Away from Immanence 41 On the Difficulty of Staying Within Immanence 43 Vacillation 45 For an Articulation between the Two Paradigms: Semio-Pragmatics 46 The Semio-Pragmatic Model 48 1. Context, Constraints and the Space of Communication 55 Universally Shared Constraints 55 Natural Constraints 56 The Narrative Constraint 58 The Case of Languages 62 Language and Perception 63 The Influence of a Language on How We Read Images 64 “Non-Natural” Constraints and the Notion of the “Space of Communication” 66 2. The Discursive Space : Communicative Competence and Modes of Production of Meaning 71 Fictionalizing Mode (First Approach) 75 Spectacularizing and Energetic Modes 77 Documentarizing Mode, Moralizing Mode 81 Fictionalizing Mode (Second Approach); Fabulating Mode 84 3. Aesthetic Mode, Artistic Mode: Relationship between Modes and Spaces 89 From the Aesthetic Mode to Aesthetic Spaces 90 From the Artistic Mode (in Reduced Form) to Inscription in the Space of Art 94 From the Artistic Mode (Full-Fledged Form) to the Spaces of Art 97 Relationship among Modes and among Spaces 101 4. Contextual Analysis and the Space of Communication : The Space of Communication of Family Memory 105 The Space of Communication for Memory in the “Traditional” Family 106 The Constraints and the Construction of the Actants 106 Which Mode(s) to Construct? Private Mode, Intimate Mode 107 Communication Operators 110 The Space of Communication for Memory in the New Family Structure 114 “Freed-Up” Communication 116 Testimony Mode: Another Mode of Production of Meaning 116 Other Memory Operators 117 5. The Space of Communication and Migration: The Example of the Home Movie 123 The Home Movie: From Archives to Loci of Memory 123 The Home Movie on Television 127 From Home Movie to Micro-Histories 130 The Home Movie in the Space of Art 133 The Home Movie in the Medical Context 136 6. Textual Analysis and Semio-Pragmatics 141 A Stage of the Tour de France on Television 142 Interpreting the Reproduction of a Painting 146 Collective Academic Research 148 The Space of Description and the Construction of the Object of Analysis 150 From the Space of Textual Analysis to the Space of Interpretation 152 The Space of Ideological Analysis 154 The Space of Epistemological Reflection 155 The Place of Cinema in the Academic Institutional Space 156 Conclusion 157 List of Tools 161 The Different Stages of Construction of the Semio-Pragmatic Model 163 Bibliography 165 Index 173 A Democracy of Readings and Objects : Roger Odin’s Contribution to the Theory of Film Vinzenz Hediger Odin, R., Spaces of Communication: Elements of Semio-Pragmatics. With an Introduction by Vinzenz Hediger. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2022 doi 10.5117/9789462987142_intro