Questioning the Definition of Cinema: From Artistic Production to Discursive Practice

The current article traces the conceptual transformations of cinema. It begins by problematizing the historical genesis of cinema and the major role culture plays in both its emergence and development. The role of culture is further illustrated through the shifts that cinema has undergone from a site of spectacle to a means of expression; from cinema of attraction to cinema of narrative integration. Within the debate of cinematic development and conceptualizations, this study comprehensively discusses two broad and almost overlapped definitions: cinema as an art and cinema as an ideology. The aesthetic aspects of cinema, along with their challenges and defenses, are discussed in terms of the artistically external and internal characteristics, while the ideological features are investigated in relation to the sociopolitical orientation of cinematic content and the ideological manipulation of the formal elements. To account for the complex debate about cinema, we conclude by defining it within the framework of discourse to recognize the possibilities of the articulation of resistance and agency.