Cinematic Touch

The article questions the status of the metaphor of touch, as it appears in arts in general and cinematic arts in particular, following a line of thinkers that can be grouped together based on a certain philosophy of touch. First, the definition of a metaphysical touch in the metaphorical meaning of the word is attributed to Plato, while the thinking of touch in its literal meaning to Aristotle. The metaphor and metonymy of touch, developed in this way, are then used to examine the status of the haptictactile in the cinematic arts, especially from the perspective of certain authors of Marxist and other provenience (Horkheimer, Adorno, Benjamin, Arendt), who have detected a distinctively violent aspect of contemporary artistic technologies. Lastly, an alternative interpretation is proposed, deriving from Lacan and Nancy, according to which there is a possibility to think the touch in cinematic arts not as something violent, but emancipatory.

The integral version of this article can be found in the printed KINO!