Description
Book SynopsisFeminist film theory has flourished since the 1970s, but faces a double impasse. This work shows how studying women's filmmaking is more effective than criticizing mainstream movies from feminist perspectives. It analyzes films and screenplays by women to consider how women theorize the process and function of storytelling in cinema.
Trade ReviewWhat a pleasant surprise that
Cinematic Howling: Women’s Films, Women’s Film Theories, a new book for film and cultural studies, has all the elements of a good story with its unconventional title, engaging first person narrative and refreshing writing style! Yet
Cinematic Howling is much more than a story about women’s films and feminist theory - it is an innovative theoretical work about gender identity and transnational culture with close readings that focus on the importance of storytelling in selected films by women filmmakers. ... Cheu has written an intriguing academic reference on women filmmakers....
Cinematic Howling will prove very useful for feminist film analysis and cultural studies at the undergraduate and graduate levels. While the author of Cinematic Howling reminds us that there are many voices involved in the field of women’s films, some of these voices might need more room for expression in film studies classes, alongside Cheu’s thoughtful book. -- Judith Plessis * Canadian Literature, No. 195, Winter 2007 *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
1 Feminist Film Theory and the Postfeminist Era: Disney'sMulan
2 Howling for Multitudes: Angela Carter's The Company ofWolves
3 The Female Authorial Voice: Marguerite Duras' Hiroshimamon amour
4 Beyond Freud and Lacan: Susan Streitfeld's FemalePerversions
5 Cathartic Meta-narrative: Léa Pool's Lost andDelirious and Barbara Sweet's Perfect Pie (TwoScripts by Judith Thompson)
6 Diasporic Imagination and Transcultural Identity: Clara Law'sThe Goddess of 1967
7 Representing Representation: Agnès Varda's Sans toit niloi (Vagabond)
8 From Text to Context: Metadocumentary and Skyworks
9 Filling the Theory Vacuum: Marleen Gorris'Antonia
Notes
Bibliography
Index
