auteurism
|au-teur-ism|
🇺🇸
/oʊˈtɝːɪzəm/
🇬🇧
/əʊˈtɜːrɪzəm/
director as author
Etymology
'auteurism' originates from French, specifically the word 'auteur', where 'auteur' meant 'author', combined with the English suffix '-ism' (from Greek '-ismos') meaning 'practice or ideology'.
'auteur' came into English usage from French (modern French 'auteur'), ultimately from Latin 'auctor' meaning 'originator' or 'author'; the compound 'auteurism' was formed in English (notably in film criticism) in the mid-20th century to name the theory/stance derived from 'auteur'.
Initially 'auteur' meant 'author' or 'originator' in the broad sense; over time, in film criticism it specialized to mean the film director as the creative author, and 'auteurism' came to denote the theory or practice emphasizing that role.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the critical doctrine or movement (often called 'auteur theory') that regards the film director as the primary creative author of a movie and evaluates films through the director's personal vision.
A wave of auteurism in mid-20th-century criticism put directors' personal styles at the center of film analysis.
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Noun 2
the tendency or practice in filmmaking where a director's distinctive, recurring themes or stylistic signatures dominate a film's creative identity.
Critics accused the franchise of abandoning auteurism as different directors produced inconsistent tones.
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Last updated: 2025/11/22 21:40