Feminism And Contemporary Visual Discourses In The Third World Films

From the perspective of comparative studies, the thesis attempts to explore the approaches how female discourses is constructed as well as its strategies, practices and values in the Third World films. Combined with explicit critics on post-colonialism, feminism and psychoanalytic criticism, and associated with contemporary context within which those criticisms are received, transformed and changed, the essay mainly deals with integration of theories and texts, and integralities of texts.Being considered as Other in Caucasian' eyes, there are similarities in "women" and colonials of the Third World, from their points of view, they both are marginalized as subaltern. Even in some feminists' thoughts, women of the Third World are not only the other, but also the other of the other. To date, in the context of globalization and pluralism, it is crucial and impending to search cultural identities for females. The topic, no matter which direction it refers to, regarding to its intrinsic tendency affiliated to politics, seems intriguing, though has remained a blank or misled field. Being a female, the inquiry of how to speak and from what sort of standpoints motivates my writing of this essay.In current circumstances, visual cultures play more and more significant roles in global market. Thus incising from the relationship of "gaze" and "being gazed", I aim to see the means by which female figures are represented, interpreted, coded, read and/or mis-read in cinematic discourses. As the bearer of the gaze, they have been controlled by masculine discourse for the sake ofobject of male desire and signifier of castration threat. Although in those Third World films, it is not always the same case, patriarchic subconscious disciplines the point of views of lens, which indicates mutual intervolutions of power, discourse and ideolojy.When female switches from objects to spectators/audiences of gaze, the subjectivity changes accordingly. Based on deep close-readings on some cinematic texts, I analyze characteristics of female discourses, esp. when male personas are absent from the image. I also investigate the possibility of colliding, interacting, transforming and integrating when oriental cultures are transplanted and re-channeled to the west, from various aspects, such as cinematic representations of mother-daughter relations and sisterhood, and so force.In conclusion, both the west and the east are being looked at each other, though from dissimilar standpoints and/or views. Subaltern can speak. As a matter of fact, women identify themselves with visual signs and languages. Furthermore, situated in a globalizing world, binary-opposition will no longer be rational. We need to communicate and have dialogues with our counterparts.The thesis has five parts. The preface is a brief introduction to the importance of doing research on this subject, current research result, and my overall point of view and perspective. The first chapter is a survey of related literary theories, such as feminism, post-colonialism, and orientalism, etc. In the second chapter, I analyze female figures in the Third World films, basically viewing them as "to-be-looked-at-ness" and bearer of gaze from narrative of cinema. Based on intertexualites of cinematic and printed texts, chapter three explores the relationships of post-colonialism, feminisms and their impacts on cinematic discourses. The last part registers all problems listed above and forsee some new topics consequently...