Module Identifier | ENM4020 | |||||||||||
Module Title | SCREENING THE SUBJECT | |||||||||||
Academic Year | 2007/2008 | |||||||||||
Co-ordinator | To Be Arranged | |||||||||||
Semester | Intended for use in future years | |||||||||||
Next year offered | N/A | |||||||||||
Next semester offered | N/A | |||||||||||
Other staff | Dr David E Shuttleton | |||||||||||
Course delivery | Seminars / Tutorials | Seminar. 2 hours per week | ||||||||||
Assessment |
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1. Introduction: Imagining a Postmodern London?
Derek Jarman's "Jubilee" as punk dystopia. Stephen Frears' "My Beautiful Launderette" raises issues concerning the representation of the post-colonial subject. We shall be considering how both films address the post-modern "condition of England".
2. History and Her Story as Postmodern Heritage
Sally Potter's "Orlando" suggests a challenging feminist revision of the mainstream genre of English 'costume drama'. Influenced by Jarman's neo-romanticism, "Orlando" also invites a consideration of 'nostalgia' and English history in recent British cinema. Cross-reference to the later career of Jarman raises the question of 'the politics of camp' in the context of the convergence of post-modernism and queer theory.
3. Foreign Bodies
Taking up Potter's representation of gender hybridity in the light of Judith Butler's poststructuralist accounts of sex and gender as 'performativity' we shall turn to Peter Greenway's "The Pillow Book" as the focus for a discussion of the current concern with 'the Body' in contemporary British art and critical theory.
4. The Politics of Post-Modern Masquerade
Neil Jordan's "The Crying Game", provides an opportunity to discuss the political reach of a post-modern project which erodes the fixed boundaries of identity. Some comparisions will be made with "Trainspotting" in the context of recent concerns with a 'post-modern ethic'.
5. Conclusion
In this session we shall examine at least one additional film specifically chosen by the students themselves to provide an opportunity for establishing an overview of the issues raised in ealier sessions. Some time will also be employed to discuss essay planning.
Select Bibliograhy
Students will be directed to specific reading for each session. Some general studies include, Greame Turner, "Film as Social Practice" (1988); Robert Lampsley and Michael Westlake, "Film Theory: an Introduction" (1988); section on British Cinema in Jill Nelmes, editor, "An Introduction to Film Studies" (1996); Lester Friedman, editor "British Cinema and Thatcherism" (1993); Timothy Corrigan "A Cinema Without Walls" (1991); Frederic Jameson, "Signatures of the Visible" (1991). See the journals "Screen and Textual Practice" for recent articles.
This module is at CQFW Level 7