Women's History Month at the African Women in Cinema Blog : Visualizing Herstories: Towards an Introduction to African Women Cinema Studies

 

Women's History Month

at the African Women in Cinema Blog

 

Visualizing Herstories: Towards an Introduction to African Women Cinema Studies

Beti Ellerson ©2004

Since its publication in 2004, I have deepened, expanded and strengthened the arguments, ideas and concepts that were introduced. The Blog provides an invaluable resource to explore the ongoing developments relevant to the research and study of African women in cinema.

 

 

Introduction

As a general introduction to African Women Cinema Studies, the text examines African women's cinematic practices, African women as cultural readers within the cinema arena both in front of and behind the camera, and in front of the screen as critic and audience. The essay explores the following questions: In what ways do African women use "cinema"? What are their commonalities and differences? Is there an emergence of film criticism practices by African women indicative of African realities? How are African women going beyond dominant gazes (masculinist, white feminist, western) to visualize the specificities of Africa and its extended boundaries? What are African women's experiences in cinema?

The broad categories for examination are: the contextualization of African women's cinema within African filmmaking; women's voices and cinematic practices; women's stories, experiences and realities; theoretical and critical practices of interpretation; thematic approaches to African women's cinematic practices; women organizing and working together.

The essay provides the groundwork for readers from the diverse disciplines of African Studies, Women Studies, and Cinema Studies to appreciate the myriad aspects of African women in the cinema and their evolution in this domain. It explores the various political, social and cultural contexts of African women in the audio-visual media, examines current discourse on gender and cinema and its role in cultural policy development, and analyzes the various networks that contribute to women's expanding roles in the cinema.  In the process, the reader will be exposed to theoretical questions and criticism by African women that probe the issues of identity, subjectivity, the body, and positioning; and critical perspectives that consider how African women's contributions in the cinema through pedagogy for mass communication and consciousness-raising are directly related to African development. Likewise, the essay looks at African women's cinemas as an "alternative discourse", as another way of experiencing cinema outside western and masculinist hegemony. One of its goals is to contribute to the ongoing dialogue in the areas of Women Studies and World Cinema.

Read Visualizing Herstories: Towards an Introduction to African Women Cinema Studies in its entirety at the Centre for the Study and Research of African Women in Cinema:

https://africanwomenincinema.org/AFWC/Visualizing_Herstories.html