PERSISTENCE OF HISTORY, THE

In the aftermath of the Holocaust, the Rodney King beating, the O.J. Simpson trial, what is to count as history, and how can it be recounted? The Persistence of History is an anthology of essays from major film scholars and historians which focuses on a radical contemporary challenge to historical representation in film. This challenge is brought about by what the collection terms "the modernist event" - novel historical occurrences unthinkable before the 20th century and raised to visibility, if not intelligibility, through the mass mediations of film and television. Contributors: Robert Burgoyne, Thomas Elsaesser, Sumiko Higashi, Bill Nichols, Patrice Petro, Dana Polan, Shawn Rosenheim, Robert Rosenstone, Janet Staiger, Frank Tomasulo, Hayden White, Denise Youngblood.