Gendered Frames, Embodied Cameras: Varda, Akerman, Cabrera, Calle, and Maïwenn

by Cybelle H. McFadden

Overview

Using the framework of self-representation, this book rethinks problems of representation of the female body in French cinema and contemporary French culture. By filming themselves, these filmmakers visually claim their roles, establish their authority in the field, and expose new ways to configure representation, gender, and cinema.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611479607
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/15/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	246
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Cybelle H. McFadden is assistant professor of French and is also a member of the Women's and Gender Studies Program faculty at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Table of Contents

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Gendered Frames, Embodied Cameras in Contemporary French Cinema (1987-2009)

Section I: Self-Authorization Through Self-Representation

Chapter One: Reflected Reflexivity: Agnès Varda’s Aging Female Body
Chapter Two: Enacted Reflexivity: Chantal Akerman par Chantal Akerman
Chapter Three: Hybrid Reflexivity: Dominique Cabrera’s Half-Body, Half-Camera

Section II: Self-Construction Through Faux Narratives

Chapter Four: Orchestrated Reflexivity: Sophie Calle’s Narrative Body as Artist
Chapter Five: Faux Reflexivity: Maïwenn’s Camera and the Female Body

Conclusion: Reflections on Gendered Frames, Embodied Cameras

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

McFadden presents an original and thought-provoking overview of a particular strategy in women's filmmaking, which will be of interest to any future researchers of this theme, in France or further afield.

French Studies

Chapters function both independently and inter-dependently, which is a great advantage for those who teach French cinema, as chapters can easily be pulled as readings, just as the entire book can be assigned for courses on Contemporary French Cinema or Women’s Filmmaking in France. The book is a welcomed addition to scholarship on all five filmmakers, particularly to the few published explorations on Maïwenn, which tend to focus on Polisse (2011). The book will be of interest to enthusiasts, scholars, and students of French Studies, FilmStudies, and Contemporary Feminist and Gender Studies.

The French Review