Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

Publication Date

7-10-2013

Abstract

La chute de la femme-objet: comment Catherine Breillat intègre son discours érotique féminin à la conceptualisation de la femme-sujet, à travers la caméra, dans ses deux films Anatomie de l’Enfer et À ma sœur probes the ties between the formation of women’s subjectivity in Breillat’s movies, its results in cinematographic sphere and its impact on spectators. On the movie screen, what was then unknown provokes deep reactions for showing us representations that go towards, against, and beyond our ontological experience as spectators. This sense of reality is highly prolific, since, by feeling restless, we start posing questions and thus, we release our criticism, not remaining stuck or passive in front of reality. Breillat's movies reach their climax when the restlessness and discomfort reach the spectator. The present work is an attempt to raise questions that may seem contradictory and trying to answer them in a more accessible way, having in mind what is essentially human in each of us. The two movies I have looked at, Anatomy of Hell and Fat Girl, represent women in their search for their own subjectivity, here defined as 'a complex relation of meaning, effects, habits, dispositions, associations, and perceptions resulting from the semiotic interaction of self and outer world' (De Lauretis 1987, 18). In Breillat's movies, the eroticism will focus on the woman's body, showing that it is possible to depict the feminine eroticism in a way that will emphasize the woman's role as a genuine subject and not as a mere object. All that a woman can express as a subject, I call "feminine erotic discourse. For this to happen Breillat foresees each camera movement, paying attention to each scenario's and zoom lens's meaning. She chooses what is more suitable for her target, because the tiniest mistake can reduce women to the status of an object again.

Keywords

erotic discourse women movie subjectivity objectification Catherine Breillat camera cinema spectator anatomy of hell fat girl pornography watch midi, erotic discourse women movie subjectivity objectification Catherine Breillat camera cinema spectator anatomy of hell fat girl pornography watch midia

Document Type

Thesis

Language

French

Degree Name

French

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures

First Committee Member (Chair)

Bishop, Stephen

Second Committee Member

Cheek, Pamela

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