Intelligence Work: The Politics of American Documentary

Film and Culture Series

by Jonathan Kahana

Intelligence Work establishes a new genealogy of American social documentary, proposing a fresh critical approach to the aesthetic and political issues of nonfiction cinema and media. Jonathan Kahana argues that the use of documentary film by intellectuals, activists, government agencies, and community groups constitutes a national-public form of culture, one that challenges traditional oppositions between official and vernacular speech, between high art and popular culture, and between academic knowledge and common sense. Placing iconic images and the work of celebrated filmmakers next to overlooked and rediscovered productions, Kahana demonstrates how documentary collects and delivers the evidence of the American experience to the public sphere, where it lends force to political movements and gives substance to the social imaginary.

Genres: Film

436 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2008

Reviews

[Justin Hall · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very boring. I don't recommmend literary cultural studies through the that tries to analyze the media.

[Travis Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Zapruder turn in the text was a bit...curious.