Spring 2000

Note: This course is cross-listed as MTA 400, Section 09

Meeting Times

The course meets in a seminar format on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:10 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. in Wilson Hall, Room 2-274.

Information About the Instructor

• Dr. Walter Metz, Assistant Professor (but please just call me Walter!)
• Office Location: VCB 224
• Office Phone: (406) 994-6403 [with voice mail]
• Home Phone [w/ answering machine]: 522-9183 [feel free to call between 9am and 10pm]
• E-mail address: metz@montana.edu
• Web Site: http://bloopy.kusm.montana.edu/metz
• Office Hours: Mondays, from Noon until 1 p.m.; Tuesdays, from Noon until 1 p.m.; Wednesdays, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.; and by appointment

Course Goals

This course intends to introduce the issues that feminist theories pose for the analysis of films and culture. These issues are usually framed in reference to women’s access to and roles in the production of media and women’s representation within these media. Correspondingly, the course offers two major sections of investigation. First, we will explore the historical development of women’s roles in the cinema as creative artists. Second, we will explore the various ways in which women’s roles in the film industry intersect with the wider identity political issues of race, class, sexuality, and national identity. The course will conclude with a case study applying the feminist theories encountered to a recent popular film adaptation, Amy Heckerling’s Clueless. This "hands-on" conclusion will provide the impetus for students to finish their own term papers applying feminist theory to popular culture. The course will be rigorous, offering students the opportunity to engage with a vast array of important feminist theory, including the work of Kaja Silverman, Julia Kristeva, and Luce Irigaray.

Reading Material

I have ordered three books for this course:

• Chris Weedon, Feminism, Theory, and the Politics of Difference (London: Basil Blackwell, 1999, ISBN 0631198245)
• Jane Austen, Emma (New York: Bantam, 1981, ISBN 0553212737)
• Robert James Waller, The Bridges of Madison County (New York: Warner Books, 1997, ISBN 0446364495)

The rest of the readings will be from articles. I have placed these items on reserve at the library, both in hard copy and electronic formats. To access the electronic versions, go to the syllabus below or go directly to the library home page at:  http://www.lib.montana.edu

Cheating on exams is a widespread problem at most universities. I will attempt to ensure that your exam environment discourages this breach of academic standards. Once the exam begins, you should put away your notes, refrain from talking, and keep your eyes on your own exam material. Any student caught cheating by me will not pass my course, and will be disciplined further as per university regulations.  It is presumed that all work submitted is the original work of the student whose name appears on it and that the work was prepared originally for this course. All research notes and materials gathered for your writing should be kept and must be made available to the instructor upon request. All such material will be returned following the evaluation of the writing. Plagiarism occurs in two ways. Intentional plagiarism occurs when a student willfully misrepresents the source of the work handed in. Any student caught engaging in intentional plagiarism will not pass my course and will be disciplined further as per university regulations.   More common is unintentional plagiarism, wherein a student, in the course of writing a paper, does not provide proper citation materials which indicate the source of individual ideas within the paper. In such a case, I will call a meeting with the student, and we will amicably resolve the problem by discussing proper academic citation strategies in the humanities.

Note Taking

To do well, you must take notes in this class, on discussion material and the readings. In our discussions, I'll be throwing a lot of complicated information at you, so you'll need to write it down, reflect on it, and work to understand its relevance to the "Big Picture." This is not the sort of class where if you just come and pay attention, you are guaranteed a good grade. There is a great deal of reading material, and in order to learn what is contained therein, you need to take notes on it and study it. People learn by processing material repeatedly. Reading something once without going back over it a few times (taking notes facilitates this) does not encourage remembering it later.

This is not an easy class. The readings are heavy and the information I'll be presenting and we'll be discussing is often theoretical, and thus difficult and challenging. That said, however, I want to re-assure you that I'll keep this in mind while determining grades. Don't be afraid if you're confused early on. Use our discussions, your writing, and office hours to work through this new material. That confusion is invigorating and is the fuel that will drive your education. I've attempted to structure the course so that it will be challenging, yet accessible, to students of varying levels and abilities. I will use the + and - system when assigning grades.

• Quizzes--Periodically--15%
• Midterm Exam--Tuesday, March 7--20%
• Final Paper--Thursday, April 20--25%
• Oral Presentation--Week of April 25--15%
• Final Exam--Wednesday, May 3--25%

Description of Quizzes

In order to make sure everyone is doing the reading, I will give several quizzes throughout the semester. They will be unannounced, will last 10 minutes, and will take place at the beginning of class. You will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of concepts presented in the reading material. You need not memorize the entire article, just understand the thesis and basic concepts and terms. Your final quiz grade will be curved against the rest of the class. So, if you happen to miss one quiz, your chance of getting an "A" in the course will not be automatically ruined.

Description of Exams

My exams are rather challenging. However, I grade on a curve, and most students who study hard throughout the semester will do well on them. You'll be given short format yet open-ended questions (identifications, identify and analyze a quotation, and short essay) about the material presented in class and in the readings, and its applicability to the screenings. The material for these questions will be culled from the in-class material (including clips shown in class) and the reading material. Please write down immediately the date of the exams. If you do not take an exam, you will receive a grade of F for the course.

• Click here to see a Sample Midterm Exam
• Click here to see a Sample Final Exam

Description of Final Paper and Oral Presentation

To successfully complete the course, you will produce a 10-15 page paper and a 10 minute oral presentation that 1) employs the methodologies presented in the class and/or 2) investigates the content of some portion of the class material. You will be afforded the opportunity for feedback on your work as the semester proceeds according to the following schedule. By February 1, you should hand in a typed, paragraph-length sample thesis paragraph for your paper. Your topic may mutate or completely change as the course proceeds, but I want you to begin working through this process as early as possible. By February 29, you should hand in a typed, 5 page analysis of one film that will serve as a significant case study within your final paper. By Tuesday, March 21, you should hand in a 2 page precis for the paper. A precis is a document which tells the reader what the thesis of the argument is, what sources will be used, what methodology will be used, and what the case study analyses will be. By Tuesday, April 4, you should have met with the instructor at office hours, prepared with an outline of your oral presentation, including what clip you would like to show to illustrate your main point. A draft of your final paper is due on Thursday, April 20. You will receive written feedback and a grade on this draft. You may accept the grade given or re-write the draft for a new grade. If you choose to re-write, the last day for handing in revisions is Wednesday, May 3.

Attendance Policy

If you do not come to class regularly, there is no way you will pass the course. Since so much of the learning will be going on during class, you will not be able to fully understand the material by looking at someone else's notes later on. Also, there are no course notes available for this course. As a general rule, if you miss more than two class meetings (as un-excused absences, according to university definitions), expect to receive no better than a C in the course; more than five un-excused absences without explanation will result in a grade of F for the course.

How To Do Well In This Class

1) Come to class prepared (having done the reading, having thought about the material, being prepared with questions, etc.). 2) Take good notes on every facet of the class (lectures, discussions, readings, films). This will prove invaluable in preparing for the exams. 3) Do the reading. Many students fall behind, and then complain that they are having trouble in the class. The reading gives you a second voice to help you understand difficult ideas. If you do not understand a particular essay or do not find it useful, come to talk with me about it--the discussion we have will benefit us both. Keep up with the reading. Set aside Monday and Wednesday nights (before our class periods) to read, take notes, and ponder the significance of the readings for the class.

Course Syllabus

Note: readings are due on the date listed.

• Discussion: Introduction to the Course (Definitions of Feminism)

• Discussion: Introduction to Feminist Criticism
• Reading: Chris Weedon, Chapter 1 ("The Question of Difference")
•               Chris Weedon, Chapter 2 ("Challenging Patriarchy, Decentring...")

• Discussion:  Methodologies of Feminist Criticism
• Reading: Chris Weedon, Chapter 4 ("Psychoanalysis and Difference")
•               Chris Weedon, Chapter 5 ("The Production and Subversion of Gender")
•                Laura Mulvey, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" {reserves}
•                {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}

• Discussion:  Cards on the Table (or, what business does Walter have teaching feminism?)
• Reading: Stephen Heath, "Male Feminism" {reserves}
•               {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}
•               M. Awkward, "A Black Man’s Place(s) in Black Feminist Criticism" {reserves}
•               {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}

Section Two: Masculinity and the "Post-Feminist" American Nineties

At home assignment: Watch The Bridges of Madison County (Clint Eastwood, 1995, 135 min)

Thursday, January 27

• Class led by Dr. Gary Lande
• Discussion:  Feminist Analysis of Waller’s The Bridges of Madison County
• Reading: Robert James Waller, The Bridges of Madison County (1992)
•               Walter Metz, "Another Being We Have Created Called Us" {reserves}
•               {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article} 

• Discussion:  Theories of Melancholia
• Reading:  Sigmund Freud, "Mourning and Melancholia" {reserves}
•                {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}
•                Judith Butler, "Freud and the Melancholia of Gender" {reserves}
•                {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}

Thursday, February 3

• Discussion:  Feminist Analysis of Eastwood’s The Bridges of Madison County
• Reading: Luce Irigaray, "A Very Black Sexuality?" {reserves}
•               {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}
•               Julia Kristeva, "Psychoanalysis--A Counterdepressant" {reserves}
•               {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}

• Discussion:  Theorizing the Female Authorial Voice
• Reading:  Kaja Silverman, "The Female Authorial Voice" {reserves}
•                {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}

• Discussion:  Women Directors in the Early American Cinema
• Reading:  Martin Norden, "Women in the Early Studio System" {reserves}
•                {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}
• Screening:  How Men Propose (Lois Weber, 1913, 6 min)
•                  Matrimony’s Speed Limit (Alice Guy-Blache, 1913, 14 min)

• Discussion:  Women Directors in the Early Avant-garde Movements
• Reading: Sandy Flitterman-Lewis, "From Fantasy to Structure of the Fantasm" {reserves}
•               {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}
•               Lauren Rabinovitz, "Maya Deren and an American Avant-garde..." {reserves}
•               {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}
• Screening:  The Smiling Madame Beudet (G. Dulac, 1924, France, 30 min)
•                  At Land (Maya Deren, 1944, 15 min)

• Discussion: Women Directors in Classical Hollywood Cinema (Arzner and Lupino)
• Reading: Claire Johnston, "Dorothy Arzner: Critical Strategies" {reserves}
•               {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}
•               Pam Cook, "Approaching the Work of Dorothy Arzner" {reserves}
•               {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}
•               Beverly Houston, "Missing in Action: Notes on Dorothy Arzner" {reserves}
•               {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}
•               Annette Kuhn, "Introduction: Intestinal Fortitude" {reserves}
•               {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}

• Screening: Dance, Girl, Dance (Dorothy Arzner, 1940, 88 min)

• Discussion:  Feminist Analysis of Dance, Girl, Dance
• Reading: Judith Mayne, "Lesbian Looks" {reserves}
•               {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}

• Discussion:  The Feminist Avant-garde of the 1970s
• Reading:  Annette Kuhn, "Textual Politics" {reserves}
•                {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}
•                E. Ann Kaplan, "The Avant-garde Theory Film" {reserves}
•                {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}
• Screening:  Thriller (Sally Potter, 1979, 30 min)

• Discussion:  Toward an African-American Feminist Cinema
• Reading:  Gloria Gibson-Hudson, "Aspects of Black Feminist Cultural Ideology" {reserves}
•                {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}
•                Chris Weedon, Chapter 7 ("Race, Racism, and the Problem of Whiteness")
• Screening:  Illusions (Julie Dash, 1980, 30 min)

Tuesday, March 7

• Midterm Exam
• Click here to see a Sample Midterm Exam

Thursday, March 9

• Class led by Dr. Anneke Metz
• Discussion: The New French Feminisms
• Reading: Luce Irigaray, "This Sex Which Is Not One" {reserves}
•              {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}
•              Helene Cixous, "The Laugh of the Medusa" {reserves}
•              {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}
•              Julia Kristeva, "Women’s Time" {reserves}
•              {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}

Tuesday, March 14

• No Class (Spring Break)

Thursday, March 16

• No Class (Spring Break)

• Screening: A Question of Silence (Marleen Gorris, 1983, 92 min)

• Discussion:  European Art Cinema
• Reading:  Linda Williams, "A Jury of Their Peers" {reserves}
•                {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}

Section Four: Beyond Authorship (Identity Politics in Cinema)

Tuesday, March 28

• Discussion:  The Intersection of Class and Gender in Feminist Theory
• Reading:  Chris Weedon, Chapter 6 ("Class")
• Screening:  Marked Woman (Lloyd Bacon, 1937, 97 min)

• Discussion:  Feminist Analysis of Marked Woman
• Reading:  Charles Eckert, "The Anatomy of a Proletarian Film" {reserves}
•                {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}

• Discussion:  Queer Theory’s Place in Feminism
• Reading:  Chris Weedon, Chapter 3 ("Lesbian Difference, Feminism, and Queer Theory")
• Screening:  Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (Todd Haynes, 1987, 43 min)

• Discussion:  Post-colonialism and Feminism’s "Third Wave"
• Reading:  Chris Weedon, Chapter 8 ("Beyond Eurocentrism")
• Screening:  Black Girl (Ousmane Sembene, 1966, 65 min)

Section Five: The Female Authorial Voice in the New Hollywood

Tuesday, April 11

• Discussion:  The Cinematic Resurrection of Jane Austen
• Reading: Jane Austen, Emma (1816)

• Screening:  Clueless (Amy Heckerling, 1995, 97 min)

• Discussion:  Theories of Cinematic Adaptation
• Reading:  Dudley Andrew, "Adaptation" {reserves}
•                {Click here to go directly to the e-reserves copy of this article}

• Discussion:  Feminist Analysis of Clueless
• Reading:  Walter Metz, "A Totally Clueless Emma?: How American Popular Culture Saved Jane Austen from Masterpiece Theatre"{to be handed out}

Tuesday, April 25

• Student Oral Presentations

Thursday, April 27

• Student Oral Presentations

Final Exam

• Wednesday, May 3 from Noon-1:50 p.m. in Wilson 2-274
• Click here to see a Sample Final Exam

Citation List for Reserves Articles

1. Mulvey, Laura. "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema [1975]." Rpt. In Feminism and Film Theory. Ed. Constance Penley. New York: Routledge, 1988. 57-68. ISBN 0-415-90107-3.

2. Heath, Stephen. "Male Feminism." In Men in Feminism. Eds. Alice Jardine and Paul Smith. New York: Methuen, 1987. ISBN 0-416-01591-3.

3. Awkward, Michael. "A Black Man’s Place(s) in Black Feminist Criticism." Who can Speak?: Authority and Critical Identity. Eds. Judith Roof and Robyn Wiegman. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 71-91. ISBN 0-252-06487-9.

4. Metz, Walter. "Another being we have created called us’: Point-of-view, Melancholia, and the Joking Unconscious in The Bridges of Madison County." The Velvet Light Trap. 39 [Spring 1997]. 66-83.

5. Freud, Sigmund. "Mourning and Melancholia [1917]." Vol. 14. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Ed. And Trans. James Strachey. London: Hogarth P, 1957. 239-258. ISBN 0-7012-0067-7.

6. Irigaray, Luce. "A Very Black Sexuality? [1974]." Speculum of the Other Woman. Trans. Gillian C. Gill. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1985. 66-73. ISBN 0-8014-1663-9.

7. Kristeva, Julia. "Psychoanalysis--A Counterdepressant." Black Sun: Depression and Melancholia. Trans. Leon S. Roudiez. New York: Columbia UP, 1987. 3-30. ISBN 0-231-06706-2.

8. Butler, Judith. "Freud and the Melancholia of Gender." Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge, 1990. 57-65. ISBN 0-415-90042-5.

9. Silverman, Kaja. "The Female Authorial Voice." The Acoustic Mirror: The Female Voice in Psychoanalysis and Cinema. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1988. 187-234. ISBN 0-253-30284-6.

10. Norden, Martin. "Women in the Early Film Industry." Wide Angle. 6.3 [1984]. 58-66.

11. Flitterman-Lewis, Sandy. "From Fantasy to Structure of the Fantasm." To Desire Differently: Feminism and the French Cinema. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1990. 98-112. ISBN 0-253-31682-0.

12. Rabonovitz, Lauren. "Maya Deren and an American Avant-garde Cinema." Points of Resistance: Women, Power, and Politics in the New York Avant-garde Cinema, 1943-71. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1991. 49-91. ISBN 0-252-06139-X.

13. Johnston, Claire. "Dorothy Arzner: Critical Strategies [1975]." Rpt. In Feminism and Film Theory. Ed. Constance Penley. New York: Routledge, 1988. 36-45. ISBN 0-415-90107-3.

14. Cook, Pam. "Approaching the Work of Dorothy Arzner." Rpt. In Feminism and Film Theory. Ed. Constance Penley. New York: Routledge, 1988. 46-56. ISBN 0-415-90107-3.

15. Houston, Beverle. "Missing in Action: Notes on Dorothy Arzner [1984]." Rpt. In Multiple Voices in Feminist Film Criticism. Eds. Diane Carson, Linda Dittmar, and Janice R. Welsch. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1994. 271-279. ISBN 0-8166-2272-8.

16. Kuhn, Annette. "Introduction: Intestinal Fortitude." Queen of the B’s: Ida Lupino Behind the Camera. Westport: Greenwood P, 1995. 1-12. ISBN 0-313-29732-0.

17. Mayne, Judith. "Lesbian Looks: Dorothy Arzner and Female Authorship." How Do I Look? Queer Film and Video. Eds. Bad Object Choices. Seattle: Bay P, 1991. 103-143.  ISBN 0-941920-8.

18. Kuhn, Annette. "Textual Politics." Women’s Pictures: Feminism and Cinema. 2nd Ed. New York: Verso, 1994. 151-171. ISBN 1-85984-910-5.

19. Kaplan, E. Ann. "The Avant-garde Theory Film." Women and Film: Both Sides of the Camera. New York: Methuen, 1983. 154-161. ISBN 0-416-31750-2.

20. Gibson-Hudson, Gloria. "Aspects of Black Feminist Cultural Ideology in Films by Black Women Independent Artists." Rpt. In Multiple Voices in Feminist Film Criticism. Eds. Diane Carson, Linda Dittmar, and Janice R. Welsch. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1994. 365-379. ISBN 0-8166-2272-8.

21. Irigaray, Luce. "This Sex Which Is Not One." New French Feminisms. Eds. Elaine Marks and Isabelle de Courtivron. New York: Schocken, 1981. 99-106. ISBN 0-8052-0681-7.

22. Cixous, Helene. "The Laugh of the Medusa." New French Feminisms. Eds. Elaine Marks and Isabelle de Courtivron. New York: Schocken, 1981. 245-264. ISBN 0-8052-0681-7.

23. Kristeva, Julia. "Women’s Time." Signs. 7.1 [1981]. 5-25.

24. Williams, Linda. "A Jury of Their Peers: Marleen Gorris’s A Question of Silence." Multiple Voices in Feminist Film Criticism. Eds. Diane Carson, Linda Dittmar, and Janice R. Welsch. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1994. 432-440. ISBN 0-8166-2272-8.

25. Eckert, Charles. "Anatomy of a Proletarian Film." In Movies and Methods. Volume 2. Ed. Bill Nichols. Berkeley: U of California P, 1985.

26. Andrew, Dudley. "Adaptation." Concepts in Film Theory. New York: Oxford UP, 1985.

Click Here to Return to the Homepage of Walter Metz

Questions or comments?  Please phone me at (406) 994-6403 or send an e-mail to:  metz@montana.edu

Walter Metz, Department of Media and Theatre Arts, Montana State University--Bozeman