The prevailing view is that existentialism is a product of
postWorld War II Europe and had no significant presence in the
United States before the 1940s. Jean-Paul Sartre and associates are
credited with establishing the philosophy in France, and later
introducing it to Americans. But conventional wisdom about
existentialism in the United States is mistaken. The United States
actually developed its own unique brand of existentialism several
years before Sartre and company published their first
existentialist works. Film noir, and the hard-boiled fiction that
served as its initial source material, represent one form of
American existentialism that was produced independently of European
philosophy. Hard-boiled fiction introduced the tough and savvy
private detective, the duplicitous femme-fatale, the innocent
victim of circumstance, and the confessing but remorseless
murderer. Creators of this uniquely American crime genre engaged
existential themes of isolation, anxiety, futility, and death in
the thrilling context of the urban crime thriller. The film noir
cycle of Hollywood cinema brought these features to the screen, and
offered a distinctively dark visual style compatible with the
unorthodox narrative techniques of hard-boiled fiction writers.
Film noir has gained critical acceptance for its artistic merit,
and the term has a ubiquitous presence in American culture.
Americans have much to gain by recognizing their own contributors
to the history of existentialism. Existentialism, Film Noir, and
Hard-Boiled Fiction describes and celebrates a unique form of
existentialism produced mostly by and for working-class people.
Faisons analysis of the existentialist value of
earlytwentieth-century crime stories and films illustrates that
philosophical ideas are available from a rich diversity of sources.
Faison examines the plight of philosophy, which occupies a small
corner of the academy, and is largely ignored beyond its walls.
According to the author, philosophers do themselves and the public
a disservice when they restrict what is called existentialism, or
philosophy, to that which the academy traditionally approves. The
tendency to limit the range of sanctioned material led the
professional community to miss the philosophical importance of the
critically acclaimed phenomenon known as film noir, and
significantly contributes to the contemporary status of philosophy.
Existentialism, Film Noir, and Hard-Boiled Fiction properly
identifies existentialism, not as the original creation of
postWorld War II Europeans, but as a shorthand term used to
describe a compelling vision of the world. The themes associated
with existentialism are found in the ancient Greek tragedies, and
dramatic narrative has been the preferred conveyance of the
existentialist message. American and European philosophers present
during the early decades of the twentieth century, agreed that the
United States was not fertile soil for the existentialist message,
but the popularity of hard-boiled fiction and film noir contradicts
such claims. Faison examines and emphasizes the working-class
origins and orientation of hard-boiled fiction to reveal the
division between elites and working-class Americans that led to the
ill-informed conclusion. Faison effectively challenges the frequent
assertion that the intellectual and creative sources of film noir
are to be found in European thinkers andmovements, and establishes
film noir, like hard-boiled fiction, as a uniquely American
phenomenon. Existentialism, Film Noir, and Hard-Boiled Fiction is
scholarly and accessible, and will appeal to academics interested
in existentialism, philosophy, and interdisciplinary studies, film
enthusiasts interested in the narrative and visual techniques
employed in film noir, and fans of hard-boiled mystery fiction and
the work of screen legends of the Hollywood studio era.
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