Gender and Society in Contemporary Brazilian Cinema

Gender is an absolute ground zero for most human societies, writes David William Foster, an absolute horizon of social subjectivity. In this book, he examines gender issues in thirteen Brazilian films made (with one exception) after the 1985 return to constitutional democracy and elimination of censorship to show how these issues arise from and comment on the sociohistorical reality of contemporary Brazilian society. Foster organizes his study around three broad themes: construction of masculinity, constructions of feminine and feminist identities, and same-sex positionings and social power. Within his discussions of individual films ranging from Jorge um brasileiro to A hora da estrela to Beijo no asfalto, he offers new ways of understanding national ideals and stereotypes, sexual dissidence (homoeroticism and transgenderism), heroic models, U.S./Brazilian relations, revolutionary struggle, and human rights violations. As the first study of Brazilian cinematic representations of gender ideology in English or Portuguese, this book will be important reading in film and cultural studies.

Author: David William Foster
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Published: 01/01/1999
Pages: 181
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.48lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.39d
ISBN: 9780292725102

About the Author
David William Foster is Chair of the Department of Languages and Literatures and Regents' Professor of Spanish, Interdisciplinary Humanities, and Women's Studies at Arizona State University.