Intimate Relationships in Cinema, Literature and Visual Culture

This edited volume is an inquiry into the representation of intimate relationships in a diverse array of media including cinema, arts, literature, picture books, advertising and popular music. It examines artistic portrayal of intimate relationships as a subversion of the boundaries between the representable and the non-representable, the real and the surreal, the visceral and the ideal, the embodied and the abstracted, the configured and transfigured. The essays focus on artistic mediation of intimacy in diverse relationships, including heterosexual, same-sex, familial, sibling' , political, and sadomasochistic. The collection offers new interdisciplinary and multicultural perspectives on current trends in the study of popular representations of intimacy; representations that affect and formulate people's most personal inspirations, desires, angsts, dreams and nightmares in an increasingly alienated, industrialized world. 'Intimate Relationships does not only engage scholars in fields such as Cinema, Literature and Visual culture, but is inclusive of various national, ethnic, sexual, cultural and political identities. Most importantly, the collection recognizes that intimacy is a complex concept that can neither be quantified nor contained within the realm of romantic / erotic love. As a result, Intimate Relationships provides a new definition of intimacy and the manners in which it can be qualified.' - Dr. Dror Abend-David, Lecturer in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, University of Florida, USA 'A stunningly original contribution to scholarship on the multi-faceted topic of intimacy. Offering insightful analyses of material ranging from film to literature, from internet sites to pop music, and encompassing such diverse subjects as bodily functions, mainstream pleasures, and inter-generational relationships, these essays offer new critical perspectives and food for thought. Ambitious in scope, this collection is dazzling and challenging; the variety of approaches and cultures, and the wide choice of primary materials, will fascinate readers wishing to deepen their understanding of this essential aspect of being human.' - Dr Elisabetta Girelli, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, St Andrews University, UK This edited volume is an inquiry into the representation of intimate relationships in a diverse array of media including cinema, arts, literature, picture books, advertising and popular music. It examines artistic portrayal of intimate relationships as a subversion of the boundaries between the representable and the non-representable, the real and the surreal, the visceral and the ideal, the embodied and the abstracted, the configured and transfigured. The essays focus on artistic mediation of intimacy in diverse relationships, including heterosexual, same-sex, familial, sibling' , political, and sadomasochistic.. The collection offers new interdisciplinary and multicultural perspectives on current trends in the study of popular representations of intimacy; representations that affect and formulate people's most personal inspirations, desires, angsts, dreams and nightmares in an increasingly alienated, industrialized world. Intimate Relationships in Cinema, Literature and Visual Culture 3 Acknowledgments 5 Contents 6 1 Introduction 15 The Intimate Relationship between a Man and His Private Parts 16 The Private and Public Pleasures of the Intimate Society 20 Fully Exposed Bodies and Souls in the Age of Extimacy 23 Intimate Relationships beyond the Straight and Narrow 25 Bibliography 34 Filmography 35 Part I Straight Intimacies and Heterosexual Guilty Pleasures 36 2 Fifty Shades of Guilty Pleasure 37 “Look at Me.” “I am.” 39 “Business Meeting” 41 “Women Who Want Me to” 43 A Walk Back 44 Bibliography 45 Filmography 47 3 Vitalities and Fatalities in Intimate Relationships in Etgar Keret’s Graphic Narratives 48 Notes 57 Bibliography 58 4 Intimacy in Crisis: Family Dysfunction in Israeli Literature for Preschool Readers 60 Introduction: Families in Israeli Children’s Literature Toward the New Millennium 60 Fractured Families and Broken Embraces 63 Ugly Ducklings, Miniscule Giraffes, and Little Horses’ Agony 65 Perilous Pleasures of Embarrassing Parents 68 Notes 71 Bibliography 72 Part II Adapted Intimacies and Spectacular Obscenities 74 5 An Intimate Adaptation 75 Introduction: When Desires Seek Release 75 Now You See Me 77 Enter the Paracosm 78 The Future of Shadow Writers 81 Bibliography 83 6 Fellini’s Satyricon: Bacchanalias and Sexual Politics in Imperial Rome and Modern Italy 84 Introduction: Retrieving Lost Meanings 84 Sexuality and Power in Imperial Rome 85 Literature and Satyricon 86 Fellini’s Satyricon: A Dream-World Film 87 Sex, Priapus, Hermaphrodite 89 Conclusion: Satyricon as a Criticism of Italian Politics 91 Bibliography 92 Filmography 94 7 Reimagining the 1970s: Romance, Sleaze and Obscenity in Bombay Cinema 95 The Sound of Romance: R. D. Burman and the Aural Registers of Pleasure 98 Corporeal interventions: The erotic as the filmic image 102 Notes 107 Bibliography 108 Discography 109 Filmography 109 Part III Queer Intimacies and Politicized Attractions 111 8 David Wojnarowicz’s Poetics: Magnifying Homosexual Male Bodies, Exalting Queer Intimacies 112 Introduction 112 Times of Crisis: Homophobia and AIDS 113 Contrasts and Movements: The Cinematic Vision of Sexual Encounters 117 Illness and Loss: Representing Melancholic Queer Intimacy 120 Conclusion 123 Notes 124 Bibliography 124 9 Marco Berger: Homoaffectivity through Cinematic Queered Continuums 127 Introduction 127 Queering Lacan’s l’objet petit a 129 Ausente (Absent) 132 Los brazos rotos (Broken Arms) 134 Conclusion 136 Notes 137 Bibliography 138 Filmography 139 10 Hidden Desires: Cinematic Representations of Man/Boy Love 140 The Concept of Man/Boy Love and its Representation in For a Lost Soldier 141 Representing Man/Boy Love in Eban and Charley 146 Concluding Remarks 148 Bibliography 148 Filmography 149 11 Girl Meets Girl: Sexual Sitings in Lesbian Romantic Comedies 150 Introduction 150 Sexual Sitings 151 Conclusion 158 Bibliography 159 Filmography 160 Part IV Gendered Intimacies and Feminized Carnalities 161 12 Controlling the Mind for the Body: The Deintellectualization of Women within the American Gothic 162 Bibliography 170 Filmography 171 13 Beyond the Duality of Intimacy and Intimidation: La double vie de Véronique and the Reclamation of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Ethical Kernel after 1989 172 The Sexual Politics of Misencounters 173 The Penetration of the Real 177 From Politics to Ethics...and Back 179 Notes 182 Bibliography 183 Filmography 184 Part V Interracial Intimacies and Ethnicized Intercourse 185 14 Utopian Transgressions: Intimate Relationships across Social Boundaries 186 Prologue: Happy End 186 A Passage to India: A Romantic Rather than Spiritual Journey 187 Eloping: Breaking Free of the National Space 191 Epilogue: Happy Together, Happy Here 195 Bibliography 196 Filmography 197 15 The Epistemology of the Ethnic Closet: Interracial Intimacy and Unconditional Love in Ian Iqbal Rashid’s A Touch of Pink 199 Negotiating Interracial Gayness 201 Interracial Intimacy and Diasporic Sex Scenes 203 Epistemology of Straight Men Who Have Sex with Men 205 Notes 208 Bibliography 209 Filmography 211 Part VI Advertised Intimacies and Eroticized Pop Music 213 16 Romantic Relationships and Sexuality in Hebrew Advertisements 1967–1977 214 Introduction 214 Historical Background 215 Between Puritanism and Overt Sexuality as Reflected in Israeli Culture 216 Methodology 217 The Corpus of Advertisements 218 Analysis of the Advertisements 219 The Research Findings 219 Reification of Women 219 Couple Relationship 221 The “Harem” Surrounding and Serving the Macho Man 222 Conclusion 223 Bibliography 224 17 Vulgar Lyrics in Nigeria’s Twenty-First-Century Popular Music: St. Janet and Olamide (Badoo) 226 Introduction 226 The Nigerian Vulgus and the Context of Vulgarity 229 Janet Omotoyosi Ajilore (St. Janet) 230 Olamide Adedeji (Badoo) 232 Conclusion 234 Bibliography 234 Discography 235 Index 236 Front Matter ....Pages i-xvi Introduction (Gilad Padva, Nurit Buchweitz)....Pages 1-21 Front Matter ....Pages 23-23 Fifty Shades of Guilty Pleasure (Sara K. Howe, Antonnet Renae Johnson)....Pages 25-35 Vitalities and Fatalities in Intimate Relationships in Etgar Keret’s Graphic Narratives (Nurit Buchweitz)....Pages 37-48 Intimacy in Crisis: Family Dysfunction in Israeli Literature for Preschool Readers (Einat Baram Eshel)....Pages 49-62 Front Matter ....Pages 63-63 An Intimate Adaptation (Jelena Borojević)....Pages 65-73 Fellini’s Satyricon: Bacchanalias and Sexual Politics in Imperial Rome and Modern Italy (José Maurício Saldanha-Álvarez)....Pages 75-85 Reimagining the 1970s: Romance, Sleaze and Obscenity in Bombay Cinema (Ankita Deb)....Pages 87-102 Front Matter ....Pages 103-103 David Wojnarowicz’s Poetics: Magnifying Homosexual Male Bodies, Exalting Queer Intimacies (Mélanie Grué)....Pages 105-119 Marco Berger: Homoaffectivity through Cinematic Queered Continuums (William Daniel Holcombe)....Pages 121-133 Hidden Desires: Cinematic Representations of Man/Boy Love (Kylo-Patrick R. Hart)....Pages 135-144 Girl Meets Girl: Sexual Sitings in Lesbian Romantic Comedies (Kelly McWilliam)....Pages 145-155 Front Matter ....Pages 157-157 Controlling the Mind for the Body: The Deintellectualization of Women within the American Gothic (Matthew E. Martin)....Pages 159-168 Beyond the Duality of Intimacy and Intimidation: La double vie de Véronique and the Reclamation of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Ethical Kernel after 1989 (Man-tat Terence Leung)....Pages 169-181 Front Matter ....Pages 183-183 Utopian Transgressions: Intimate Relationships across Social Boundaries (Miri Talmon)....Pages 185-197 The Epistemology of the Ethnic Closet: Interracial Intimacy and Unconditional Love in Ian Iqbal Rashid’s A Touch of Pink (Gilad Padva)....Pages 199-212 Front Matter ....Pages 213-213 Romantic Relationships and Sexuality in Hebrew Advertisements 1967–1977 (Avivit Agam Dali)....Pages 215-226 Vulgar Lyrics in Nigeria’s Twenty-First-Century Popular Music: St. Janet and Olamide (Badoo) (Ayokunle Olumuyiwa Omobowale, Dauda Adermi Busari, Mofeyisara Oluwatoyin Omobowale, Olugbenga Samuel Falase)....Pages 227-236 Back Matter ....Pages 237-246