Mother
figure plays an essential role in cinema. Films have, by and large,
presented a stereotypical role of a mother wherein she is hailed for her
sacrifices and hated for having any personal desires. Representation of
motherhood in world cinemas has either been framed within patriarchal
norms or within nationalist discourses in which mother figure symbolizes
the nation. Patriarchy glorifies motherhood, and cinema as an
institution reflecting socio-cultural reality has tended to idealize
motherhood; depending on the ethno-cultural paradigms, mother figure is
presented either as angelic or demonic, thus prescribing a normative image.
While cinema can and does impact the perceptions of its audiences, and
thus has the power to make or break stereotypes, rarely have films
experimented with the notion of motherhood; the resistant mother,
although not unheard of, is a rare character.
This
collection will provide an analysis of how motherhood has been
represented in various filmic traditions. Papers dealing with any
cultural tradition are welcome; however, preference may be given to
non-Hollywood traditions. Understanding of motherhood both as an
individual performance and as an institution has mostly been a
post-1980s phenomenon; as such, the collection will focus on
contemporary cinema.
Topics can also include (but are not limited to):
Close
textual analysis of a film/films; analysis of depiction of motherhood
in a particular filmic tradition - for example, Korean, Iranian, Indian,
Greek, British, Canadian, Japanese, Chinese, Brazilian etc.; issues
such as mise en scène, genre, cinematography, editing, etc. in light of
portrayal of motherhood; angelic mothers, demonic mothers, sacrificial
mothers, selfish mothers, resisting mothers, ideal mothers, etc.; cinema
as mother; mother as cinema; and nation as mother, mother as nation -
in cinema
