Synopses & Reviews
Sue Thornham is Professor of Media and Film Studies at the University of Sussex, UK. Passionate Detachments traces the key developments and debates in feminist film theory over the past twenty-five years. Beginning with the work on stereotypes of women from the early 1970s and moving to the most recent debates within cultural criticism, it charts the relationship of feminist film theory to the contexts from which it arisesand to which it offers a profound challenge. From arguments about "the male gaze" to work on fantasy, horror, and the body, each chapter presents a clear and detailed critical account of a key area of debate.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p.[181]-194) and index.
Table of Contents
Introduction: passionate detachments
Forerunners and beginnings
Structures of fascination: ideology, representation, and the unconscious
Female spectators, melodrama, and the "Woman's film"
Negotiating the text: spectator positions and audience readings
Fantasy, horror, and the body
Re-reading difference(s) 1: conceiving lesbian desire
Re-reading difference(s) 2: race, representation, and feminist theory
Postmodern scepticism
Notes
Bibliography
Index.