Module Identifier TF20320  
Module Title FILM AND CULTURAL IDENTITY  
Academic Year 2003/2004  
Co-ordinator Dr Ernest Mathijs  
Semester Semester 1  
Pre-Requisite TF10220  
Course delivery Lecture   20 Hours 10 x 2 hour  
  Seminars / Tutorials   5 Hours 5 x 1 hour  
  Other   COMPULSORY WEEKLY VIEWINGS OF AROUND 2-3 HOURS EACH  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Assessment 2000 word essay   
Semester Assessment 3000 word essay For information on due dates for submission of assessed work, please refer to the departmental web pages at http://www.aber.ac.uk/tfts/duedates.shtml  

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
identify representations of cultural identity in films

analyse specific instances of the portrayal of cultural identity in films, and relate these instances to other elements of the films

work with the concept of cultural identity in studying films

have an understanding of how issues of cultural identity are dealt with by audiences

Aims

The aim of this module is to introduce students to the aspects of studying film in relation to cultural identity. It does this in the following way:
1) it introduces the concept of cultural identity (and its portrayal) as a key item in contemporary film studies
2) it aims at pointing out how issues of cultural identity are generally dealt with in studying film
3) it analyzes particular case studies of film contexts in which cultural identity has been used as a relevant tool in analyzing film (Francophone film, Cinema of the Low Countries, Gay and Lesbian cinema, Hong Kong cinema? these case studies can be subject to change)
4) In each of the cases emphasis will be put on the use of conventions of representation through content, form, and style. There will also be specific attention to the way audiences (spectators, commentators, cultures, ...) deal with and anticipate these conventions.

Content

This module introduces students to the different aspects of studying film in relation to cultural identity. First, it introduces the concept of cultural identity (and its portrayal) as a key item in contemporary film studies. Next, it aims at pointing out how issues of cultural identity are generally dealt with in studying film. In doing so, the module focuses on three particular examples: French/Francophone/European film, Cinema in the Low Countries, and Hong Kong Cinema. In each of the cases emphasis will be put on how specific films make use of conventions of representation to portray images of cultural identity, through content, form, and style. Throughout the module there will be specific attention to the way audiences (spectators, commentators, cultures, ...) deal with and anticipate conventions of representing images of cultural identity, and how these expectations and reactions have shaped the knowledge of cultural identities through film. In addition, seminars will analyse particular case studies.

Indicative sessions might include:
1) Introductory lecture: what is cultural identity and how is it relevant for film studies?
2) Classical French Cinema and the portrayal of French cultural identity in the 1930s and 1940s.
3) Auteurism/French New Wave and the Godard-Truffaut paradigm of modern cultural identity in French and Francophone cinema (50s-70s).
4) Postmodern French Cinema and the portrayal of cultural identity in the ?Cinema du Look? (80s-90s)
5) Issues of Cultural Identity in Contemporary French Cinema: postcolonialism, banlieue cinema, beur cinema, explorations of sexual identity
6) World Wide Francophone Film and the legacy of French Film Culture.
7) Cinema in the Low Countries and the lack of a template for the representation of cultural identity
8) Hong Kong Cinema and the portrayal of cultural identity in Martial Arts films
9) Hong Kong Cinema and issues of cultural identity in ?heroic bloodshed? films and Category III films
10) The influence of Hong Kong Cinema on contemporary Korean and Japanese films

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Background
Bauman, Zygmunt (1998) 'Identity - Then, Now, What For?'; in Polish Sociological Review. Vol 123
Bauman, Zygmunt (1999) Culture as Praxis London: Sage
Bauman, Zygmunt (2001) 'Identity in the Globalising World'; in Social Anthropology. Vol. 9 Nr. 2
Hall, Stuart (1996) 'Who Needs Identity?'; in S. Hall & P. Du Gay (eds). Questions of Cultural Identity London: Sage
Andrew, Dudley (1995) Mists of Regret: Culture and Sensibility in Classic French Film Princeton: Princeton UP
Crisp, Colin (1997) The Classical French Cinema 1930 - 1960 Bloomington: Indiana UP
Mazdon, Lucy (2000) Encore Hollywood: remaking French Cinema London: BFI
Mazdon, Lucy (Ed) France on Film: Reflections on Popular French Cinema London: Wallflower Press
Austin, Guy (1996) Contemporary French Cinema: an introduction Manchester: Manchester UP
E. Ezra & S. Harris (Eds) (2000) France in Focus: Film and National Identity Berg: Oxford
Spaas, Lieve (2000) 'Introduction'; in The Francophone Film: a Struggle for Identity Manchester UP
Mosley, Philip (2001) Split Screen: Belgian Cinema and Cultural Identity New York: SUNY Press
Teo, Stephen & N K Leung (1998) 'Hong Kong Cinema' in: John Hill & Pamela Church Gibson (eds). The Oxford Guide to Film Studies Oxford UP
Teo, Stephen (1998) Hong Kong Cinema London: BFI
Oldham Stokes, Lisa & Michael Hoover (1999) 'Whose better tomorrow' in: City on Fire: Hong Kong Cinema London: Verso
Yau, Esther (2001) At Full Speed: Hong Kong Cinema in a Borderless World University of Minnesota Press
Bordwell, David (2000) Planet Hong Kong Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5