Essay Topics -
You must write 2000 words. At least 3 articles or books need to be included in a bibliography that MUST be formatted and cited correctly. You must cite and reference Harvard style.
1. Film theorist Shohini Chaudhuri writes of Mehta's work: "Mehta belongs to a vanguard of South Asian migrant filmmakers whose work attempts to confront aspects of Indian reality left out of the domestic popular cinema." Drawing on psychoanalytic theory, reflect on Chaudhuri's quote. You may use a filmmaker and a film from a national cinema of your choice.
2. Using a psychoanalytic lens, comparatively analyse two films from two different cultures to examine and discuss how gender roles are defined and depicted in these national cinemas.
3. Using two films from two diverse national cinemas, explore and discuss the cinematic representations of the unconscious in these films.
4. Reflecting on Laura Mulvey's seminal essay on the male gaze, research current scholarly writings on the female gaze. Use a film of your choice to examine, discuss and illustrate your research on the female gaze.
5. Psychoanalysis can be helpful in allowing us to look afresh at film. Using the ideas of one theorist discussed in class, explain what they have helped you to see. Use examples from film to illustrate your argument.