Captive Bodies

Gwendolyn Audrey Foster is Assistant Professor of English and Film Studies at the University of Nebraska. She is also the author of Women Film Directors: An International Bio-Critical Dictionary and Women Filmmakers of the African and Asian Diaspora: Decolonizing the Gaze, Locating Subjectivity.

• List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Images of Bondage: Captive Bodies 2. A Plantocracy of Images 3. Captive Sexualities 4. Doubly Bound: The Postcolonial Resistant Body 5. Disciplining Discourse Works Cited and Consulted About the Author Index

"Foster's text is audacious in its conceptualization and treatment of cultural 'captivity.' Through her discussion not only of film texts but also of modes of film production, she identifies and examines the various expressions, both containing and transgressive, of the narrative of captivity that are bound to culturally pervasive representations of gender, sexuality, and race." — Marcia Landy, author of The Folklore of Consensus: Theatricality in the Italian Cinema, 1930–1943"Captive Bodies is a liberating volume, freeing both the body and mind from, in Foster's words, 'overdetermined assumptions about sexualities, race, gender,' and, I might add, literary and film genres. Foster offers sensuality and refinement in her analyses, merging passion and the mind. While often humorous, this study treats the somber subject of captivity with an appreciated measure of sobriety. An ambitious, bold work that will repay return visits." — Edward T. Jones, York College of Pennsylvania