Power and pleasure : the politics of film analysis and feminist community media education

This dissertation examines the value of feminist film theory for the analysis of representations of women in visual media, and the potential of media education for establishing a culture of critical viewing. Feminist film theory is thus critically considered, as are associated debates within feminism on the reproduction by media institutions of categories of gendered identity implicated in violence against women. At attempt is made to synthesise key insights offered by sociological debates within feminism (Segal, Vance and Riley), feminist film theory (Mulvey and Kuhn) and discussions of media education (Clarke and Masterman), with a view to developing a description of spectatorial relations which may inform community-based media education programmes. Central to such a formulation is a post-structuralist notion of the subject operating within gendered power relations. The thesis concludes with a detailed evaluation of a media education course for women run at the Community Arts Project, Cape Town in 1993.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of English Language and Literature

Year dc:date.issued

1999

Author dc:creator

• Du Toit, Jeanne Erika

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Bertelsen, Eve

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21691

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/21691