|
Post by CrazyForKate on Feb 2, 2011 23:17:56 GMT -5
Hi,
I was recently given permission to do a research paper on the films of Grant and Hepburn, specifically from a feminist point of view. However, I must draw on theory as well as history in the paper, and it must be between 1930-60. Knowing that some of you are (or were) film scholars, I was wondering if any of you could point me in the direction of any feminist film theories during those years? I realize this search might be fruitless, but if anyone could suggest an author, or book, or even an article I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.
|
|
evelien
Full Member
member of the Leopard Gang
Posts: 162
|
Post by evelien on Feb 3, 2011 3:57:22 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Judy on Feb 3, 2011 9:38:16 GMT -5
Hi, I was recently given permission to do a research paper on the films of Grant and Hepburn, specifically from a feminist point of view. However, I must draw on theory as well as history in the paper, and it must be between 1930-60. Knowing that some of you are (or were) film scholars, I was wondering if any of you could point me in the direction of any feminist film theories during those years? I realize this search might be fruitless, but if anyone could suggest an author, or book, or even an article I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks. Haskell's was/is considered sort of seminal. And - big plus - it's readable, while most are not. My personal view is that most of these academic theses are often given too much credence. And their worst offense is that they tend to suck the joy out of the movies and performances they study. I usually avoid them, so aside from Haskell - which as a good twentysomething, flim-loving feminist in the seventies I felt I was required to read - I'm only familiar with the others mentioned in a passing way. But I have Britton's book and it makes my teeth hurt - sorry to disagree about that one evelien....You seem like a pretty critical/independent thinker, CfK, so my only advice would be to take these books with a huge helping of salt. And don't let the joy get swallowed up by theory.
|
|
|
Post by CrazyForKate on Feb 3, 2011 15:34:31 GMT -5
Thanks for the advice everyone. I was given permission to (carefully) use later feminist theory, so that will be helpful. I do have access to many of those texts and will use them. Like you, Judy, I am not fond of the Britton book, though it will probably have to be used at some point. It's dense even for academia, over-interprets, and (IMO) comes to few valid conclusions. We'll see how this turns out.
|
|
|
Post by Alicia on Feb 3, 2011 21:06:43 GMT -5
Analyzing Kate films using feminist theory is one heck of a job. I did that two years ago and man that was a ton of work. I focused mainly on the effect Kate's films had on audiences at the time, so I also had to take into account the evolution of feminism. I kept thinking I came up with a great thesis that explained everything, and then I'd run into something obvious that would counter my argument because her films often have some sort of mixed message-- I must have changed my thesis about a hundred times. Then I ended up using a thesis that tried to incorporate these conflicting messages and came up with something that my TA was really impressed with, and said it would have been something she'd expect as a graduate thesis paper. I was quite happy with that, so thanks, Kate. I think she deserves some credit. Anyway, you asked for sources so I went and copied these from my bibliography: Britton, Andrew. Katharine Hepburn: Star as Feminist. New York: The Continuum Publishing Company, 1984. Carson, Diane. Multiple Voices in Feminist Film Criticism. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1994. Dixon, Wheeler W. American Cinema of the 1940s: Themes and Variations. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2005. Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Feminist Film Theory: A Reader. Ed. Sue Thornham. New York: New York University Press, 1999. 58-69 Stacey, Jackie. “Feminine Fascinations: Forms of Identification in Star-Audience Relations.” Feminist Film Theory: A Reader. Ed. Sue Thornham. New York: New York University Press, 1999. 196-209 Ware, Susan. Letters to the World. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1998. The "Feminist Film Theory: A reader" may or may not be helpful. It was required for my project to incorporate it. I also used the Kuhn and Britton books, but the latter wasn't as helpful as I had anticipated. Might be worth a look though.
|
|
|
Post by martha on Feb 7, 2011 18:55:15 GMT -5
Hi, I was recently given permission to do a research paper on the films of Grant and Hepburn, specifically from a feminist point of view. However, I must draw on theory as well as history in the paper, and it must be between 1930-60. Knowing that some of you are (or were) film scholars, I was wondering if any of you could point me in the direction of any feminist film theories during those years? I realize this search might be fruitless, but if anyone could suggest an author, or book, or even an article I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks. Haskell's was/is considered sort of seminal. And - big plus - it's readable, while most are not. My personal view is that most of these academic theses are often given too much credence. And their worst offense is that they tend to suck the joy out of the movies and performances they study. I usually avoid them, so aside from Haskell - which as a good twentysomething, flim-loving feminist in the seventies I felt I was required to read - I'm only familiar with the others mentioned in a passing way. But I have Britton's book and it makes my teeth hurt - sorry to disagree about that one evelien....You seem like a pretty critical/independent thinker, CfK, so my only advice would be to take these books with a huge helping of salt. And don't let the joy get swallowed up by theory. just reinforcing the "don't lose the joy" part of this response by judy. here's an image (and a challenge) for you for your paper: any theoretical construct attempting to make sense of relations between men and women must take into consideration HOLIDAY, our academic married couple, and kate and cary who find each other. as equal partners -- peers and lovers. a youtube of someone's favorite moments, that includes many scenes including the two couples ...
|
|