"Auteur" simply mean author (French vocabulary strikes again :-)
Texts on "auteur criticism" indicate that "auteur" means, in effect, "artist"
The idea behind auteur theory is compelling, however
The core of an artists work is their vision and personality
The artist brings a distinctive point of view to every work they create
Elements of the artists work act as a "signature" that identifies their work as theirs
The artist can be regarded as a "genre"
This last point is central to "auteur" criticism
The method of auteur criticism is that of Aesthetic Genre Theory
The primary difference is that the body of work is that of a particular artist
Artist can be variably defined
Film auteur criticism usually focuses on the work of a writer or director
Occasionally an actor or actress is treated as an auteur (Jerry Lewis and Lucille Ball both fall in this category)
In television, producers (especially writer/producers), ensembles, production companies, and even programming executives are sometimes treated this way
Auteur Criticism focuses on two things:
The stylistic features common to the entire body of an auteur's work
The thematic features common to the entire body of an auteur's work
It considers genre and biography, but does not focus on them
Genre, to the extent that existing generic categories apply, but with a focus on how the auteur adapts the genre to their creative vision
The auteur's personal history, but not at the level of specific instances which may be reproduced on film, but on the way personal history has shaped the auteur's creative vision.
Some gotchas
Auteur theory is generally based on the "entire" body of an auteur's work (that's a lot of viewing)
Auteur theory generally frowns on assertions of "intention".
It's fine to identify recurring themes and stylistic conventions.
It's OK to find roots for those themes and stylistics in biography
But try to avoid the "intentionalist fallacy" (the idea that you can know the mind of the auteur)
As we've already noted, auteurs often focus their efforts within a larger genre, which returns us to genre criticism
Indeed, if we treat a series as a genre, there is no difference between "ensemble" (e.g. production team, cast) oriented auteur theory and genre theory
Unless otherwise noted, the contents of this page
were written by participants on the Media Space Wiki, operated by Davis Foulger,
and should be cited accordingly. For example (APA): Foulger, D. and other
participants. (March 17, 2010). Critical Analysis S2010 S06. MediaSpaceWiki. Retrieved on from
http://evolutionarymedia.com/wiki.htm?CriticalAnalysisS2010S06.