Abstract:

Based on a critical reading and evaluation of the development of contemporary phenomenological film theory that to a large extent redefines the nature of cinema, film narrative, cinematic experience, and the relationship between moving images and the audience, this article aims to highlight the intimate and immediate relationship between the concepts of embodiment, tactility, bodily sensorium and digital moving images. The author contends that, after the waning of Grand Theory in film studies at the turn of the new century, phenomenology of film not only provides us a fresh and worthexploring approach to a redefinition of cinema, thus affords us the opportunity to have a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of cinema as a 19th century "old medium," but also breaks the theoretical impasse after Grand Theory in film studies has been challenged from many directions. This line of thinking about cinema could be further extended to our critical analysis and understanding of digital "new media" environment, even of contemporary social and cultural transformation, where humanimage interfacing is ubiquitous, and our everyday life is increasingly defined by our interactions with a variety of digital screens.

Key words: Embodiment, Tactility Phenomenology, Cinematic Experience, Digital New Media