Introduction

The expansion of film and media studies in higher education, and the blurring of disciplinary boundaries between literary and media studies, have been evaluated either as a process of reinvigoration or decline. ¹ In my view, as someone who began as a student of English literature and moved gradually into the field of film and media, the crosscurrents of influence between these areas are stimulating forces. This book, following the aims of the series in which it belongs, argues for the importance of the study of writing and cinema together, in the various ways in which this topic can be understood. I hope that the book will be interesting and useful to that growing constituency of students of English, film, media, communications, and cultural studies, whose concerns are, I believe, more shared than separate.