Overview

Noting that motherhood is a common metaphor for film production, Lucy Fischer undertakes the first investigation of how the topic of motherhood presents itself throughout a wide range of film genres. Until now discussions of maternity have focused mainly on melodramas, which, along with musicals and screwball comedies, have traditionally been viewed as ""women's"" cinema. Fischer defies gender-based classifications to show how motherhood has played a fundamental role in the overall cinematic experience. She argues that motherhood is often treated as a site of crisis--for example, the mother being blamed for the ills afflicting her offspring--then shows the tendency of certain genres to specialize in representing a particular social or psychological dimension in the thematics of maternity. Drawing on social history and various cultural theories, Fischer first looks at Rosemary's Baby to show the prevalence of childbirth themes in horror films. In crime films (White Heat), she sees the linkage of male deviance and mothering. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and The Guardian, both occult thrillers, uncover cultural anxieties about working mothers.Her discussion covers burlesques of male mothering, feminist documentaries on the mother-daughter relationship, trick films dealing with procreative metaphors, and postmodern films like High Heels, where fluid sexuality is the theme. These films tend to treat motherhood as a locus of irredeemable conflict, whereas History and Memory and High Tide propose a more sanguine, dynamic, and enabling view. Originally published in 1996. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Full Product Details

Author:   Lucy Fischer
Publisher:   Princeton University Press
Imprint:   Princeton University Press
Volume:   339
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.60cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.539kg
ISBN:  

9780691637020

ISBN 10:   0691637024
Pages:   262
Publication Date:   19 April 2016
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Language:   English

Table of Contents

"Acknowledgments1Introduction: Motherhood and Film: A Critical Genealogy32The Trick Film: The Lady Vanishes: Women, Magic, and the Movies373Silent Melodrama: Way Down East: Melodrama, Metaphor, and the Maternal Body564The Horror Film: Birth Traumas: Parturition and Horror in Rosemary's Baby735The Crime Film: Mama's Boy: Filial Hysteria in White Heat926Film Comedy: ""Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child"": Comedy and Matricide1117The Thriller: The Hand That Shocks the Cradle: The Maternal Thriller1318The Postmodern Film: Postmodernity and Postmaternity: High Heels and Imitation of Life1629The Nonfiction Film: ""The Reproduction of Mothering"": Documenting the Mother-Daughter Bond17910Epilogue: Maternity and the Artist: ""A Remarkable Zoological Species""214Index231"

Reviews

"""Erudite and insightful, great portions of the book are excellent.""--Choice"

Erudite and insightful, great portions of the book are excellent. --Choice

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