Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- 1: The State of Film Theory -- FILM THEORY AND THE ACADEMY -- THE DIRECTION OF MODERN FILM THEORY -- 2: Perception -- THE CURRENT DEBATE -- THEORIES OF PERCEPTUAL PSYCHOLOGY -- CINEMA AND PERCEPTION -- 3: Representation -- THE WORLDS WE REPRESENT -- THE WORLD OF AND IN FILM -- THE IDEOLOGY OF REALIST REPRESENTATION -- REPRESENTATION AS PLOT AND PROCESS -- 4: Signification -- THE ASCENDANCY OF SEMIOTICS -- SEMIOTICS AND REALISM -- CRITIQUE OF SEMIOTICS -- 5: Narrative Structure -- NARRATIVE AND CINEMA -- A SURVEY OF NARRATOLOGY -- BEYOND THE LIMITS OF STRUCTURALISM -- 6: Adaptation -- THE SOURCES OF FILMS -- BORROWING, INTERSECTING, AND TRANSFORMING SOURCES -- THE SOCIOLOGY AND AESTHETICS OF ADAPTATION -- 7: Valuation (of Genres and Auteurs) -- FROM FORMALISM TO GENRE STUDY -- GENRE AND THE SYSTEM -- NARRATION: THE VOICE IN THE SYSTEM -- HIERARCHIES: INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE SYSTEM -- FILM THEORY AS AN INSTITUTION -- 8: Identification -- WHY PSYCHOANALYSIS? -- THE SECRETS OF CREATION AND RECEPTION -- DESIRE IN THE TEXT -- DESIRE OF THE TEXT -- THE MACHINERY AND MECHANISM OF IDENTIFICATION -- PSYCHOANALYSIS AND THE PROBLEM OF MEANING -- 9: Figuration -- FIGURES AS EVENTS OF DESTRUCTURATION -- BETWEEN THE PSYCHE AND THE SYSTEM -- THE CENTRALITY OF INTERPRETATION IN FILM THEORY -- 10: Interpretation -- FILM THEORY IN THE TRADITION OF HERMENEUTICS -- TWO HERMENEUTIC PATHS: ROLAND BARTHES AND PAUL RICOEUR -- THE ENDLESS CLAIM OF INTERPRETATION -- Notes -- Appendix: Classified Bibliography -- Index.