The depiction of African-American femininity in american historical fiction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7203/eutopias.26.27348Keywords:
Intersectionality, black feminism, film representation, stereotypes.
Abstract
The aim of the article is to analyse the construction and significance of the transgressive African-American womanhood and the prevalence of hegemonic discourse in contemporary audiovisual representation exploring past experiences of black femininity. These audiovisual productions include The Help (2011), Hidden Figures (2016), Harriet (2019) and Self Made (2020). We propose an interpretive analysis of the contradictions and ambivalences of representations of racialised women in biographical audiovisual productions and historical fictions, using an interdisciplinary approach that combines black feminist epistemology with semiotics. Our study concludes that the portrayal of African-American femininity is experiencing a transitional period in the US audiovisual industry, between a new self-aware narrative and the tendency to depict it as an instrumentalised and mystified otherness.
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Author Biography
Frida Luis Maqueira, Universitat de València
References
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Filmografía
Harriet. Dir. Kasi Lemmons; Interp. Cynthia Eviro, Leslie Odom Jr. y Joe Alwyn; Focus Features; 2019.
Una mujer hecha a sí misma (Self made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C. J. Walker). Dir. Kasi Lemmons y DeMane Davis, Interp. Octavia Spencer, Netflix, 2020.
Figuras Ocultas (Hidden Figures). Dir. Theodore Melfi; Interp. Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer y Janelle Monáe; Fox 2000 Pictures; 2016
Criadas y señoras (The Help). Dir. Tate Taylor; Interp. Emma Stone, Viola Davis y Octavia Spencer; DreamWorks SKG; 2011.
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