[Commlist] CfP: French Theory and Contemporary Screen Studies Conference

*CfP: International Conference on French Theory and Contemporary Screen 
Studies*

*Location*: Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

*Dates*: June 11 & 12, 2026

*Keynote*: Prof. Sarah Cooper (King’s College London)

*Deadline for abstracts*: 12/01/2026

*Applicants notified of acceptance*: 12/02/2026

In the context of contemporary Screen Studies – a field characterised by 
a multiplicity of disparate methods, theories, practices and research 
objects – it would appear that ‘French theory’ occupies a paradoxical 
place: on the one hand, ample cognizance of French film theory and 
French (post)structuralism is still viewed as a pre-requisite to the 
formation of film and media scholars, who may be expected to demonstrate 
their familiarity with, for example, the semiological writings of 
Christian Metz, the psychoanalytic theories of Jean-Louis Baudry, or the 
post-structuralist rhetoric of Julia Kristeva and Roland Barthes. On the 
other hand, French film theory is liable to be viewed as/passé/, a 
hangover from the ‘high theory’ battles of the 1970s and 1980s which has 
now been replaced by more timely theoretical discourses (i.e. 
ecocriticism, posthumanism, critical race theory) or more robust 
scholarly methods (i.e. quantitative analysis, archival research, media 
archaeology). Where in the 1970s Anglophone cinephiles and researchers 
cherry picked French language scholarship and film criticism to create a 
methodological basis for audiovisual research that could be used to 
necessitate the inclusion of film and television in tertiary education, 
by the 1990s the necessity of French film theory was being contested on 
two fronts by the ‘Post-theory’ movement and the rise of Cultural 
Studies (Andrew, “The ‘Three Ages’ of Cinema Studies” (2000), 346-7). In 
the 21^st  century, while the moniker ‘French theory’ may not carry the 
authority it once did, its presence in Film and Media Studies remains 
very much alive, as evidenced by the rise of the journal and annual 
conference/Film-Philosophy/, growing interest in the question of 
‘technics’ (see van den Oever, 2009; Baer and van den Oever, 2024), and 
the ongoing ubiquity of/auteurism/in both traditional and videographic 
film criticism,//for example.

This conference invites attendees to reflect upon any aspect of French 
film theory (be that its pre-war iterations, its post-war/auteurist/, 
semiotic and structuralist paradigms, or its various ‘high theoretical’ 
incarnations) as it pertains to 21^st  century Screen Studies, 
interrogating the contemporary tensions, uses and developments that 
characterise its failure to disappear.


We invite proposals for 15–20-minute presentations covering a range of 
topics including (but not limited to):

·The uses and abuses of French theory in contemporary Screen Studies 
analysis.

·The influence of French (film) theory upon current theoretical 
paradigms in Screen Studies.

·Contemporary French theorists of audiovisual media (i.e. Catherine 
Malabou, Bernard Stiegler, Peter Szendy, Nicole Brenez).

·Overlooked, marginalised and forgotten French theorists of the moving 
image.

·Screen media,/médiologie/ and the philosophy of technics [technē].

·/Auteurism/, authorship and contemporary film and television culture.

·Film-philosophy, film-phenomenology and the persistence of French theory.

·Psychoanalysis, ideology and screen media: then and now.

·Visual semiology,/Communications/ (1961–) and contemporary media practices.

·Translation, (mis)reading, and the ‘invention’ of French theory in 
Screen Studies.

A keynote will be delivered by Prof. Sarah Cooper who has published 
broadly on French cinema, film theory and philosophy, and was PI of the 
recent AHRC project 'Global Circulations of Film Theory'.

To apply, please send a single document containing a title, a*200–300 
word abstract* and a*short bio of 
50–100* words by*12/01/2026* to:(frenchfilmtheoryconference /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(frenchfilmtheoryconference /at/ gmail.com)>

This event is supported by the Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland 
postdoctoral project “Film and the Philosophy of Sense” (PI Corey Cribb; 
Grant number GOIPD/2024/232), Technological University Dublin’s Research 
Centre Creative Arts and Media (GradCAM), and the Trinity Long Room Hub 
Arts & Humanities Research Institute. There are plans in place for a 
special issue of a high-ranking journal on the conference topic, 
featuring full-length articles adapted from selected conference papers.

*Conference Organisers*: Corey Cribb (Technological University Dublin), 
Jennifer O’Meara (Trinity College Dublin), and Paula Quigley (Trinity 
College Dublin).

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