Woman in Lars von Trier's cinema, 1996-2014 / Ahmed Elbeshlawy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Elbeshlawy, Ahmed, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Trier, Lars von, 1956---Criticism and interpretation.

Trier, Lars von.

Women--Violence against--In motion pictures.

Women.

Women in motion pictures.

Sex in motion pictures.

Trier, Lars von, 1956-.

Culture--Study and teaching.

Motion pictures--European influences.

Motion pictures--Production and direction.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

viii, 213 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

Place of Publication:

Cham, Switzerland : Palgrave Macmillian, [2016]

Summary:

This book discusses the figure of Woman in Lars von Trier's distinctive cinematic productions from 1996 to 2014. It takes the notorious legacy of violence against women in von Trier's cinema beyond the perceived gender division, elevating the director's image above being a mere provocateur. By raising fundamental questions about woman, sexuality, and desire, Elbeshlawy shows that Trier's cinematic Woman is an attempt at creating an image of a genderless subject that is not inhibited by the confines of ideology and culture. But this attempt is perennially ill-fated. And it is this failure that not only fosters viewing enjoyment but also gives the films their political importance, elevating them above both commendations and condemnations of feminist discourse. Ahmed Elbeshlawy is an independent scholar and occasional lecturer. He is author of America in Literature and Film (2011) and has contributed articles to The Comparatist (2008), the forthcoming Palgrave Handbook to Literature and the City, andFe/Male Bodies (2005/6).

Contents:

1. Introduction: The Lacanian Woman and Lars von Trier's Cinema

2. The Danger of the Naive Religious Woman of Breaking the Waves

3. Idioterne: Woman as a Proponent of Real Politics

4. Dancer in the Dark: Deploying the Siren, Impairing the Sight

5. Dogville: Woman as an Ideological Cinematic Tool

6. Manderlay: The Gift, Grace's Desire, and the Collapse of Ideology

7. The Deployment of the Impossible Woman in Antichrist

8. Besides Melancholia and Beyond Gender: Melancholia

9. Conclusion, or, Desire as Law: the Loneliness of Nymphomaniac between Pornography and Narrative.

Notes:

Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2016.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9783319821436

3319821431

3319406388

9783319406381

OCLC:

1045734328