Cinema Context en onderzoek naar sociale netwerken binnen de filmgeschiedschrijving: een aanzet tot discussie

Abstract

This article discusses the status and position of the Cinema Context database in outlining a future research agenda for the comparative study of cinema cultures. The authors argue that the specificity of for instance Dutch national cinema culture cannot be explained solely by using the data and analytic tools offered by Cinema Context. Contextual factors and phenomena that are not accounted for in the sphere of the database have contributed significantly to the shaping of the characteristics of (Dutch) cinema culture. In order to support this claim the article discusses three examples of such factors and phenomena: local club life in the province of Limburg; press discourse on the dominant position of Jews in the Dutch film business; and differences in the representation of the social world of women in early Dutch talking pictures. The Cinema Context database and research into such wider contexts surrounding the database are complementary perspectives for investigating the history of cinema cultures.