I'm thinking about starting a new paper concerned with refiguring cinema's history as a history of grounds, or backgrounds (as opposed to figures, or foregrounds). The figure-ground relationship implied by any notion of mise-en-scene may be reversed. So this is like subversive reading of cinema, I suppose. What do people think? An avante-garde sort of criticism? Might not be publishable immediately, but it could be fun. Thoughts? Has it been done (if so refferences please). Oh yes, it has been done before. Most importantly, the relationship foreground-background is racialized. Read the brilliant essay: Times_New_RomanStam, Robert, and Louise Spence. "Colonialism, Racism, and Representation: An Introduction." Movies and Methods. Vol. II. Ed. Bill Nichols. Berkeley: U of California P, 1985. 632-649. Oh, and if you like the idea and decide to steal it from me, kindly cite me in some footnote. That's sweet. Evan Rosenfield GMU Gloria Monti ______________________________ gloria monti special assistant professor department of audio/video/film 318 dempster hall 111 hofstra university hempstead, NY 11549-1110 voice mail: 516-463-6463 e-mail: [log in to unmask] http://pantheon.cis.yale.edu/~godard/index.html 3/29/1951: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage.