International Cinema and the Girl: Local Issues, Transnational Contexts (Global Cinema)

From Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz to Bella Swan in Twilight, the girl has been a subject of intense cinematic interest. This collection considers the specificity of girls' experiences and their cinematic articulation through a multicultural feminist lens which cuts across the divides of popular/art-house, Western/non Western, and north/south. From Dorothy in 'The Wizard of Oz' to Bella Swan in 'Twilight', the girl has been a subject of intense cinematic interest. This collection considers the specificity of girls' experiences and their cinematic articulation through a multicultural feminist lens which cuts across the divides of popular/art-house, Western/non Western, and North/South cinematic cultures From the precocious charms of Shirley Temple to the box-office behemoth Frozen and its two young female leads, Anna and Elsa, the girl has long been a figure of fascination for cinema. The symbol of (imagined) childhood innocence, the site of intrigue and nostalgia for adults, a metaphor for the precarious nature of subjectivity itself, the girl is caught between infancy and adulthood, between objectification and power. She speaks to many strands of interest for film studies: feminist questions of cinematic representation of female subjects; historical accounts of shifting images of girls and childhood in the cinema; and philosophical engagements with the possibilities for the subject in film. This collection considers the specificity of girls' experiences and their cinematic articulation through a multicultural feminist lens which cuts across the divides of popular/art-house, Western/non Western, and north/south. Drawing on examples from North and South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe, the contributors bring a new understanding of the global/local nature of girlhood and its relation to contemporary phenomena such as post-feminism, neoliberalism and queer subcultures. Containing work by established and emerging scholars, this volume explodes the narrow post-feminist canon and expands existing geographical, ethnic and historical accounts of cinematic cultures and girlhood.From the precocious charms of Shirley Temple to the box-office behemoth Frozen and its two young female leads, Anna and Elsa, the girl has long been a figure of fascination for cinema. The symbol of (imagined) childhood innocence, the site of intrigue and nostalgia for adults, a metaphor for the precarious nature of subjectivity itself, the girl is caught between infancy and adulthood, between objectification and power. She speaks to many strands of interest for film studies: feminist questions of cinematic representation of female subjects; historical accounts of shifting images of girls and childhood in the cinema; and philosophical engagements with the possibilities for the subject in film. This collection considers the specificity of girls' experiences and their cinematic articulation through a multicultural feminist lens which cuts across the divides of popular/art-house, Western/non Western, and north/south. Drawing on examples from North and South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe, the contributors bring a new understanding of the global/local nature of girlhood and its relation to contemporary phenomena such as post-feminism, neoliberalism and queer subcultures. Containing work by established and emerging scholars, this volume explodes the narrow post-feminist canon and expands existing geographical, ethnic and historical accounts of cinematic cultures and girlhood. Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction....Pages 1-18 Front Matter....Pages 29-29 The Showgirl Effect: Adolescent Girls and (Precarious) “Technologies of Sexiness” in Contemporary Italian Cinema....Pages 21-33 Girlfriends, Postfeminism, and the European Chick-Flick in France....Pages 35-47 Warrior of Love: Japanese Girlhood’s Postfeminist Asian Body in Cutie Honey (Hideaki Anno, 2004)....Pages 49-60 Front Matter....Pages 61-61 Feminine Adolescence and Transgressive Materiality in the Films of Lucrecia Martel....Pages 63-73 A Phenomenology of Girlhood: Being Mia in Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009)....Pages 75-84 Desire, Outcast: Locating Queer Adolescence....Pages 85-95 Bye-Bye to Betty’s Blues and “La Bonne Meuf”: Temporal Drag and Queer Subversions of the Rom-Com in Bye Bye Blondie (Virginie Despentes, 2011)....Pages 97-106 Front Matter....Pages 107-107 Chica Dificil”: Music, Identity, and Agency in Real Women Have Curves (Patricia Cardoso, 2002)....Pages 109-120 Emotion, Girlhood, and Music in Naissance des pieuvres (Céline Sciamma, 2007) and Un amour de jeunesse (Mia Hansen-Løve, 2011)....Pages 121-133 The Pleasures of Music Video Aesthetics in Girl Teen Film....Pages 135-150 Front Matter....Pages 151-151 Where’s Girlhood? The Female Child Killer in Where’s Mary? (Tony Hickson, 2005)....Pages 153-163 Performing History: Girlhood and Sib/The Apple (Samira Makhmalbaf, 1998)....Pages 165-177 Girlhood in a Warzone: African Child Soldiers in Film....Pages 179-194 Daddy’s Little Sidekick: The Girl Superhero in Contemporary Cinema....Pages 195-206 Back Matter....Pages 207-219