I found the etymological point about the English word cinema being derived from the French cinématographe (and from Greek kinema) interesting, and I wish this was unpacked more. So, I’ll do my...
I found the etymological point about the English word cinema being derived from the French cinématographe (and from Greek kinema) interesting, and I wish this was unpacked more. So, I’ll do my best.
While it’s true that we might think of cinema and movies as synonyms in English, the distinguishing factor is something called prestige. And, the entire question of whether Vines can be considered cinema or not is a very similar sociological question to the sociolinguistic notion of what marks prestige language.
The fact that the term cinema comes to English via French, even if the Lumière brothers invented the term, and it originally was held in no special regard by French speakers, the term borrowed into English is associated with a prestigious register in English.
Consider this minimal pair:
I’m going to the movies.
I’m going to the cinema.
Depending on societal context, 2 might be considered out of place, even marked as "putting on airs".
We also have the word film, though which muddies things a bit, since it’s of Germanic origin, but I think still indicates a prestigious register:
I’m going to see a movie.
I’m going to see a film.
In the same way that the cited Dr. Laurene Michele Jackson says that black people are the engine that powers the meme ecosystem, I’d argue that from a historical perspective, the French language was one of several engines (along with Latin and Greek) that power prestigious English.
We have a lot of artifacts of the historical French influence on English spoken today, such as the oft-noted words for meats that Anglo-Saxon nobility would eat, vs. the animals that would be farmed by Anglo-Saxon peasants:
See Language Contact and Prestige (Angelika Lutz, 2013) for more examples, discussion of the stratal nature of Old French and Middle English, and the nature of medieval England’s "intense cultural interest in all aspects of French courtly life".
The prestige of English words with French, Latin, and Greek origins extends to many domains and can be found basically anywhere you look:
Personally, I think that Vine is considered "low culture" due to the same sociological distinctions that mark prestige dialects in natural language. Namely, the attitude of elitism inculcated by socioeconomic stratification.
Someone moved this post to ~tech, probably because of the title, but I'm not sure if it really belongs here or in other sub like ~arts, ~movies, or even ~misc. The video doesn't really talks about...
Someone moved this post to ~tech, probably because of the title, but I'm not sure if it really belongs here or in other sub like ~arts, ~movies, or even ~misc.
The video doesn't really talks about Vine, it argues that the word cinema has become something that it wasn't meant to be, since originally it meant "a moving picture". From there explain how the short videos (popularized by Vine and now prominent in all social media) can be considered art, listing several points :
Can be produced by anyone, think about a drawing or a painting instead of a multi million dollar film.
Take advantage of their format to deliver a message.
In some instances, specific videos have changed our culture.
Some of them portray our reality, and how this is very important on our current political climate.
I have moved it from ~tech to ~arts after reading your comment here. It would seem a better fit there, like you say. You can always discover any moderation action performed on any of your posts by...
I have moved it from ~tech to ~arts after reading your comment here. It would seem a better fit there, like you say.
You can always discover any moderation action performed on any of your posts by clicking on the topic log situated to the right.
I found the etymological point about the English word cinema being derived from the French cinématographe (and from Greek kinema) interesting, and I wish this was unpacked more. So, I’ll do my best.
While it’s true that we might think of cinema and movies as synonyms in English, the distinguishing factor is something called prestige. And, the entire question of whether Vines can be considered cinema or not is a very similar sociological question to the sociolinguistic notion of what marks prestige language.
The fact that the term cinema comes to English via French, even if the Lumière brothers invented the term, and it originally was held in no special regard by French speakers, the term borrowed into English is associated with a prestigious register in English.
Consider this minimal pair:
Depending on societal context, 2 might be considered out of place, even marked as "putting on airs".
We also have the word film, though which muddies things a bit, since it’s of Germanic origin, but I think still indicates a prestigious register:
In the same way that the cited Dr. Laurene Michele Jackson says that black people are the engine that powers the meme ecosystem, I’d argue that from a historical perspective, the French language was one of several engines (along with Latin and Greek) that power prestigious English.
We have a lot of artifacts of the historical French influence on English spoken today, such as the oft-noted words for meats that Anglo-Saxon nobility would eat, vs. the animals that would be farmed by Anglo-Saxon peasants:
See Language Contact and Prestige (Angelika Lutz, 2013) for more examples, discussion of the stratal nature of Old French and Middle English, and the nature of medieval England’s "intense cultural interest in all aspects of French courtly life".
The prestige of English words with French, Latin, and Greek origins extends to many domains and can be found basically anywhere you look:
Personally, I think that Vine is considered "low culture" due to the same sociological distinctions that mark prestige dialects in natural language. Namely, the attitude of elitism inculcated by socioeconomic stratification.
Someone moved this post to ~tech, probably because of the title, but I'm not sure if it really belongs here or in other sub like ~arts, ~movies, or even ~misc.
The video doesn't really talks about Vine, it argues that the word cinema has become something that it wasn't meant to be, since originally it meant "a moving picture". From there explain how the short videos (popularized by Vine and now prominent in all social media) can be considered art, listing several points :
I have moved it from ~tech to ~arts after reading your comment here. It would seem a better fit there, like you say.
You can always discover any moderation action performed on any of your posts by clicking on the topic log situated to the right.
Thanks, I didn't know that was a thing.