Sie sind auf Seite 1von 17

Between Gazes

Camelia Elias
identifications
self and other
self and an imaginary self which merges
with the fictionalized feminine subject
the recognition of a potential self in the
fictionalized situation
the desire to maintain the difference
between self and ideal
identification/recognition
Identification can only be made through
recognition, and all recognition is itself an
implicit confirmation of an existing form. The
institutional sanction of stars as ego ideals also
operates to establish normative figures.
Identification enforces a collapse of the subject
onto the normative demand for sameness, which
under patriarchy is always male (Anne
Friedberg: Identification and the star a refusal
of difference, 1982)
identification/reproduction
Identification reproduces:
Sameness
Fixity
The confirmation of existing identities

Identification has been seen as the
feminine counterpoint to masculine desire
(Stacey)
cinematic identificatory fantasies

devotion
adoration
worship
transcendence
aspiration and inspiration
normative functions

stars serve as

role models
someone to emulate
the epitome of what a woman should be
ideals of feminine appearance

spectatorship

distinct relations between self and ideal
denial of self in favor of praising screen
goddesses
the desire to transform the self
extra-cinematic practices
pretending
resembling
imitating
copying

desire involves wanting to have and
identification involves wanting to be
(Stacey, 158)
The Color Purple
characters
Nettie
Celie
Pa
Mr___/ Albert
Harpo/Sofia
Shug Avery
Samuel
Corinne
Olivia
Adam; Tashi
namelessness

No surnames

Walker draws attention to her examination of
male dominance

by withholding mens surnames she
diminishes their patriarchal authority
statements to discuss
Celie is proving herself to be a pathetic character: she
should stand up to Mister and fight back.
Sophias experiences show that fighting back doesnt
work
Shug Avery appears to be a source of strength and
goodness in the film/novel
there are no good relationships between men and
women in The Color Purple
they are all based on violence, abuse, mistrust, and contempt
the women are the strong ones and the men are the
weak ones


figures of authority
You better not never tell nobody but God
(Pa)

You cant curse nobody. Look at you. You
black, you pore, you ugly, you a woman.
Goddamn, you nothing at all (Albert)
identifications
Celie with Shug
Celie with Nettie
Albert with Shug
Harpo with Sofia
Albert with Celie
reconciliations
affirmation and rejection of the Christian
doctrine
it pisses God off if you walk by the color
purple in a field somewhere and dont
notice it (Shug)

(re-entering the symbolic law of the father,
mainly in Spielberg, less in Walker)
Banning The Color Purple (1983)
I learned that a certain Mrs. Green had objected to her
daughter, Donna, reading The Color Purple. (Coming in
from the Cold, Alice Walker, 1984)
a controversial book since its publication.
grounds for objections:
the language is offensive
black people dont speak like that
black men are presented negatively as brutal, sexist,
selfish
the book is too sexually explicit: it sets a bad example to
young people
there is very poor use of English, which also sets a bad
example
unconstrained relationships
If you are not free to express your love,
you are a slave; and anyone who would
demand that you enslave yourself by not
expressing your love, is a person with a
slaveholders mentality
In the Closet of the Soul, Alice Walker, 1986)

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen