Theorising desire : from Freud to feminism to film

What is the nature of desire? This book gives an accessible introduction to the concept, and a coherent critique of the competing theories of desire within contemporary theory. Through analysis of representations of desire in television and film, it considers ways in which the concept is theorized and presented on screen. How is desire presented on screen and through popular culture? How can we theorise desire without falling into pre-subscribed notions of lack and loss? Theorising Desire offers an innovative approach to understanding the concept of desire through its presentation in film, television and popular culture. It examines the concept as it is theorised in psychoanalytic, feminist and film studies and presented in a diverse range of films and television programmes such as Code 46, In the Mood for Love, Safe and Sex and the City. Anchoring its theorisation around concepts such as risk, hysteria, the gaze, shame and melancholia, this book considers what desire does rather than what it is, and argues that movement is central to the concept of desire and to its radical potential to transform those affected by it Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction....Pages 1-6 Theorising Desire....Pages 7-37 Hysterical Desire....Pages 38-63 Gaze and Melodrama....Pages 64-92 Shame and Desire....Pages 93-116 Melancholia and Desire....Pages 117-139 Conclusion: Desire and Embodiment....Pages 140-148 Back Matter....Pages 149-182