Roads to the Self: Unearthing the Foundations of the Road Movie

This study explores ten “road movies” made between 1945 and 2005 chosen as exemplary in global cinema. The films originated in the U.S., Italy, Germany, Brazil, Japan, Morocco and France. The project is based on library research and film viewing and uses eclectic methods and theories embracing mainly phenomenological and humanistic approaches. This thesis approaches the film narratives in selected “road movies” as “aesthetic artifacts.” The filmmakers who created these road movies use the “bricolage” available to them and which resonates with their film audiences to assemble their own mythical worlds and invite us into them. The research describes the stages of the journeys of self-discovery and the ways that film techniques reveal the psychological journeys taken by the key characters.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

World Cultures and Literature

Grantor

University of Houston

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Higgs, Elizabeth W.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Carrera, Alessandro

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Tolliver, Julie-Françoise
• Hernández, Marie Theresa

• Global cinema

Statement dc:rights

• The author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10657/13149

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/13149