FTV3070 - Women in Contemporary Cinema: Culture and Difference

Leader: TBA

Offered

Berwick Second semester 2007 (Day)

Synopsis

This unit invites critical engagement with the representation of women and the production of film and video by women in contemporary cinema. Consideration will be given to a number of contemporary and historical theoretical approaches, including questions of authorship and aesthetics, spectatorship and reception, sexual difference and subjectivity, and ethnic and national identity. A variety of production contexts and genres including Hollywood and other national cinemas, popular narrative cinema, documentary, experimental and screen arts will be discussed. Particular attention will be given to questions of cinematic representation with respect to post-colonial and critical race theories.

Objectives

By the completion of this unit students will be expected to demonstrate: An ability to formulate an analysis of textual representations or production contexts in relation to a range of critical theories including psychoanalysis, authorship theory, and theories of sexual difference; a comprehension of recent debates in gender studies and feminist film criticism and ability to distinguish how they differ from, and critique, earlier theories; the capacity to identify the relationship between popular film and culture in regards to the way the construction of sexual and social identities are facilitated by and impact on cinema; an understanding of genre conventions and the production of meaning in relation to gender; a comprehension of the relationship between feminist film criticism and critiques of race or cultural difference; an ability to critically engage with written and televisual texts in a clear and confident manner in both written and oral presentation; and an ability to engage in critical and theoretical debate concerning questions of subjectivity and discourse in cinema and its ramifications for gendered identity in regards to filmmakers, audiences and textual analysis.

Assessment

Essay (3000 words) : 60%
Visual test (1.5 hours) : 40%

Contact hours

1 x 1-hour lecture, 2-hour screening

Prerequisites

One unit at first-year level in Film and Television

Prohibitions

VSA2070; VSA3070