The CFP: International Conference on French Theory and Contemporary Screen Studies will be held on 11 - 12 June 2026 in Trinity College Dublin.

The call for abstracts is now open.

Deadline for abstracts: 12 January 2026

Applicants notified of acceptance: 12/02/2026

Keynote: Prof. Sarah Cooper (King’s College London)

In the context of contemporary Screen Studies – a field characterised by a multiplicity of disparate methods, theories, practices and research objects – it would appear that ‘French theory’ occupies a paradoxical place: on the one hand, ample cognizance of French film theory and French (post)structuralism is still viewed as a pre-requisite to the formation of film and media scholars, who may be expected to demonstrate their familiarity with, for example, the semiological writings of Christian Metz, the psychoanalytic theories of Jean-Louis Baudry, or the post-structuralist rhetoric of Julia Kristeva and Roland Barthes. On the other hand, French film theory is liable to be viewed as passé, a hangover from the ‘high theory’ battles of the 1970s and 1980s which has now been replaced by more timely theoretical discourses (i.e. ecocriticism, posthumanism, critical race theory) or more robust scholarly methods (i.e. quantitative analysis, archival research, media archaeology). Where in the 1970s Anglophone cinephiles and researchers cherry picked French language scholarship and film criticism to create a methodological basis for audiovisual research that could be used to necessitate the inclusion of film and television in tertiary education, by the 1990s the necessity of French film theory was being contested on two fronts by the ‘Post-theory’ movement and the rise of Cultural Studies (Andrew, “The ‘Three Ages’ of Cinema Studies” (2000), 346-7). In the 21st century, while the moniker ‘French theory’ may not carry the authority it once did, its presence

in Film and Media Studies remains very much alive, as evidenced by the rise of the journal and annual conference Film-Philosophy, growing interest in the question of ‘technics’ (see van den Oever, 2009; Baer and van den Oever, 2024), and the ongoing ubiquity of auteurism in both traditional and videographic film criticism, for example.

This conference invites attendees to reflect upon any aspect of French film theory (be that its pre-war iterations, its post-war auteurist, semiotic and structuralist paradigms, or its various ‘high theoretical’ incarnations) as it pertains to 21st century Screen Studies, interrogating the contemporary tensions, uses and developments that characterise its failure to disappear.

We invite proposals for 15–20-minute presentations covering a range of topics including (but not limited to):

  • The uses and abuses of French theory in contemporary Screen Studies analysis.
  • The influence of French (film) theory upon current theoretical paradigms in Screen Studies.
  • Contemporary French theorists of audiovisual media (i.e. Catherine Malabou, Bernard Stiegler, Peter Szendy, Nicole Brenez).
  • Overlooked, marginalised and forgotten French theorists of the moving image.
  • Screen media, médiologie and the philosophy of technics [technē].
  • Auteurism, authorship and contemporary film and television culture.
  • Film-philosophy, film-phenomenology and the persistence of French theory.
  • Psychoanalysis, ideology and screen media: then and now.
  • Visual semiology, Communications (1961–) and contemporary media practices.
  • Translation, (mis)reading, and the ‘invention’ of French theory in Screen Studies.

A keynote will be delivered by Prof. Sarah Cooper who has published broadly on French cinema, film theory and philosophy, and was PI of the recent AHRC project ‘Global Circulations of Film Theory’.

To apply, please send a single document containing a title, a 200–300 word abstract and a short bio of 50–100 words by 12/01/2026 to: frenchfilmtheoryconference@gmail.com

This event is supported by the Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland postdoctoral project “Film and the Philosophy of Sense” (PI Corey Cribb; Grant number GOIPD/2024/232), Technological University Dublin’s Research Centre Creative Arts and Media (GradCAM), Trinity College Dublin’s Arts and Social Sciences Benefactions Fund and the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts & Humanities Research Institute.

There are plans in place for a special issue of a high-ranking journal on the conference topic, featuring full-length articles adapted from selected conference papers.

Conference Organisers: Corey Cribb (Technological University Dublin), Jennifer O’Meara (Trinity College Dublin), and Paula Quigley (Trinity College Dublin).

For further information please email Paula Quiqley at PQUIGLEY@tcd.ie.