Course description
Strong female lead characters are becoming more commonplace in many national cinematic traditions. Portrayals of such characters, whether fictional or historical, must necessarily draw on the cultural context of production for inspiration. Thus, national cinemas produce a notable range of different representations of the cinematic heroine. At the same time, these traditions are shifting and expanding in other ways, often reaching across cultures to find audiences on distant shores. As powerful female characters become more popular, cultural changes and cross-cultural influences are reflected in expanding representations that cross borders and often defy categorization. This course examines the figure of the heroine in a range of national contexts both East and West, exploring a range of recent representations from the everyday to the fantastical. Through a study of selected films from several countries, approaches to representations of strong female characters are compared and contrasted in genres including romance, drama, animation, children's films, martial arts and superhero films. The course interrogates these films through close textual analysis, using tools from academic theory and criticism as well as studies of cultural values and ideals related to gender and representations. How are ideas of femininity defined and portrayed differently in different cultural contexts? How do the constraints of national cinema and specific genre help to produce particular representations of heroic female characters? What are the potentials and limitations of female characters as representatives of nation and culture? Through a series of textual analysis assignments linking cultural context to gender representation and reception, students will examine texts of their choosing in addition to those considered by the whole class as a group.

Together the class will read 30 pages of essay reading per week and watch one feature-length film per week. The films listed provide a sampling of likely inclusions, but the exact list could change somewhat due to time constraints, student interests, or availability in English language format. The course does not require prior knowledge of gender studies or film studies.

Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. understand relationships between cultural context, national cinemas, and gender representation
2. compare heroines from different cinematic traditions and genres
3. perform close textual analysis of character representations
4. identify key concepts in gender studies, film theory and critical analysis

Evaluation methods
Attendance and participation: 20%
Two short analytical papers focusing on specific films (15% each x 2 =) 30%
In-Class presentation: 20%
Final exam: 30%

Syllabus
Week 1: What is a heroine? Overview of heroines in international film
Reading: Introduction: Transnational Feminist Recognition of Film Discourse and Women's Cinema, from Wang, L. (Ed.) (2011). Chinese Women's Cinema: Transnational Contexts. New York: Columbia University Press, pp 1-46.
Reading: Introduction to Brown, J. A. (2015). Beyond Bombshells: The New Action Heroine in Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, pp. 3-23.
Reading: Tasker, Yvonne. (1993). Introduction and Chapter 1 from Spectacular Bodies: Gender, genre, and the action cinema. New York: Routledge, pp. 1-10 and 35-52.

Week 2: Representational Issues
Reading: Ethnicity & New Action Heroines, ch. 3 from Brown, J. A. (2015). Beyond Bombshells: The New Action Heroine in Popular Culture. Univ. Press of Mississippi, p. 78-115.
Reading: Kearney, M. C. (2015). Sparkle, Luminosity, and Post-Girl Power Media. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies 29.2, 263-273.
Reading: Seybold, Samantha. (2021) It's Called a Hustle, Sweetheart: Zootopia, Moana, and Disney's (Dis) Empowered Postfeminist Heroines. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 34, pp. 69-84.

Week 3: China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan
Reading: The Encoding of Female Subjectivity: Four Films by China's Fifth-Generation Women Directors, chapter 7 from Wang, L. (Ed.) (2011). Chinese Women's Cinema: Transnational Contexts. New York: Columbia University Press, pp 173-190.
Reading: Chu T'ien-wen and the Sotto Voce of Gendered Expression in the Films of Hou Hsiao-hsien, chapter 12 from Wang, L. (Ed.) (2011). Chinese Women's Cinema: Transnational Contexts. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 274-292.
Film: The Assassin

Week 4: Italy
Reading: Alessi, Serena, and Jossa, Stefano. (2019). Italian Heroines: Literature, Gender, and the Construction of a Nation. The Italianist 39.3, pp. 267-280.
Reading: Le Traviate: Suffering Heroines and the Italian State Between the Nineteenth and Twenty-First Centuries. From Danielle Hipkins and Katharine Mitchell (2017). (Eds.) Prostitution and Sex Work in Global Cinema: New Takes on Fallen Women, pp. 195-217.
Film: A Special Day (F. Comencini, 2012)

** First Short Paper Due

Week 5: Italy
Reading: Angeli, Silvia. (2020). From the margins: Alice Rohrwacher's Liminal Adolescents. Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studies 8.3, pp. 339-356.

The following are very short film reviews of Corpo Celeste and Le Meraviglie
Reading: https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/review-corpo-celeste/
Reading:https://www.inquirer.com/philly/columnists/steven_rea/20151127__quot_The_Wonders_quot___Simple_life_isn_t_so_simple_after_all.html
Reading: https://www.tribecafilm.com/news/alice-rohrwacher-the-wonders-sofia-coppola-cannes-italy-grand-jury-prize
Film: Le Meraviglie (Alice Rohrwacher, 2014)

Week 6: USA
Reading: York, A.E. (2010). From Chick Flicks to Millennial Blockbusters: Spinning Female-Drive Narratives into Franchises. Journal of Popular Culture 43.1, 3-25.
Reading: Girl Revolutionaries: Neoliberalist, Postfemist, and Feminist Heroines, chapter 7 from Brown, J. A. (2015). Beyond Bombshells: The New Action Heroine in Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, pp. 167-196.

OPTIONAL:
Egan, Chris, Hunger for Change: Analysis and Application of The Hunger Games, chapter 3 from Reinhard, C.D., and Olsen, C.J. (Eds.) (2017). Heroes, Heroines, and Everything in Between: Challenging Gender and Sexuality in Children's Entertainment Media. London: Lexington Books, pp. 51-66.
Film: The Hunger Games

Week 7: USA
Reading: Grady, Maura. The Maternal Hero in Tarantino's Kill Bill, chapter 5 from Jones, N., Batchelor, B., and D'Enbeau, S. (Eds.) (2016). Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. London: Rowman and Littlefield, pp. 65-76.
Reading: Supermoms: Maternity and the Monstrous-Feminine in Superhero Comics, chapter 5 from Brown, J. A. (2015). Beyond Bombshells: The New Action Heroine in Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, pp. 136-151.
Reading: Introduction: Looking Past Stereotypes of Gender Identity and Sexuality in Children's Media, from Reinhard, C.D., and Olsen, C.J. (Eds.) (2017). Heroes, Heroines, and Everything in Between: Challenging Gender and Sexuality in Children's Entertainment Media. London: Lexington Books, pp. 1-18. Read pp. 1-11 only.

Film: Kill Bill (Tarantino, 2003) OR Moana (Disney: Clements and Musker, 2016)

** Second short paper due.

Week 8: India
Reading: Sharma, Rekha and Savery, Carol, Bollywood Marriages: Portrayals of Matrimony in Hindi Popular Cinema, chapter 11 from Jones, N., Batchelor, B., and D'Enbeau, S. (Eds.) (2016). Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. London: Rowman and Littlefield, pp. 147-162.
Reading: Rana, H.S. (2020) Meheli Sen, Haunting Bollywood: Genre, Gender, and the Supernatural in Hindi Commercial Cinema. Society and Culture in South Asia 6.1.

Film: Angry Indian Goddesses (Nalin, 2015)

Week 9: Japan
Reading: Bailey Kyle, Catherine. Her Story Too: Final Fantasy X, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and the Feminist Hero's Journey, chapter 10 in Jones, N., Bachelor, B., and D'Enbeau, S. (Eds.) (2016). Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. London: Rowman and Littlefield, pp. 131-146.
Reading: Coates, Jennifer. (2017). Gambling with the Nation: Heroines of Japanese Yakuza Film, 1955-1975. Japanese Studies, 37. 3, pp. 353-369.

Film: Secret World of Arrietty (Yonebayashi, 2010)

Week 10:
New Zealand
Reading: Du Plooy, Belinda. (2019). Sheroes of the Sea: A Comparative Reading of the Girl-Centered Films Moana and Whale Rider. Gender Questions 7.1.
Film: Whale Rider
Korea
Reading: Sim, Hyekyong. (2020). Acting 'like a woman': South Korean action heroines. Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema 12.2, pp. 110-123.
Film: A Girl At My Door (Jung, 2014)

Week 11:
Student presentations

Week 12:
Student presentations

Films
Japan:Required: Secret World of Arrietty (Yonebayashi, 2010)
Suggested: Spirited Away (Miyazaki, 2001) AND Kamikaze Girls (Nakashima, 2004)
Korea: Required: A Girl At My Door (Jung, 2014)
China:Required: The Assassin (Hsiao-hsien, 2015)
Suggested: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)AND Hua Mulan (Ma & Dong 2009)
India:Required: Angry Indian Goddesses (Nalin, 2015)
New Zealand: Required: Whale Rider (Caro, 2002)
France: Suggested: Mrs. Hyde (Bozon, 2017)
Italy: Required: Un Giorno Speciale (F. Comencini, 2012) AND Le Meraviglie (Rohrwacher, 2014)
Suggested: Corpo Celeste (Rohrwacher, 2011)
UK: Suggested: Bend it Like Beckham (Chadha, 2002)
USA: Required: Hunger Games (Ross, 2012)
Options: Choose 1: Moana (Clements and Musker, 2016) OR Kill Bill (Tarantino, 2003)

Bibliography
Alessi, Serena, and Jossa, Stefano. (2019). Italian Heroines: Literature, Gender, and the Construction of a Nation. The Italianist 39.3, pp. 267-280.
Brown, J. A. (2015). Beyond Bombshells: The New Action Heroine in Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi (selected chapters).
Coates, Jennifer. (2017). Gambling with the Nation: Heroines of Japanese Yakuza Film, 1955-1975. Japanese Studies, 37. 3, pp. 353-369.
Jones, N., Batchelor, B., and D'Enbeau, S. (Eds.) (2016). Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. London: Rowman and Littlefield (selected chapters).
Kearney, M. C. (2015). Sparkle, Luminosity, and Post-Girl Power Media. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies 29.2, 263-273.
Reinhard, C.D., and Olsen, C.J. (Eds.) (2017). Heroes, Heroines, and Everything in Between: Challenging Gender and Sexuality in Children's Entertainment Media. London: Lexington Books.
Seybold, Samantha. (2021) It's Called a Hustle, Sweetheart: Zootopia, Moana, and Disney's (Dis) Empowered Postfeminist Heroines. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 34, pp. 69-84.
Sim, Hyekyong. (2020). Acting 'like a woman': South Korean action heroines. Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema 12.2, pp. 110-123.
Tasker, Y. (1993). Spectacular Bodies: Gender, Genre, and the Action Cinema. New York: Routledge. (selected chapters).
York, A.E. (2010). From Chick Flicks to Millennial Blockbusters: Spinning Female-Drive Narratives into Franchises. Journal of Popular Culture 43.1, 3-25.
Wang, L. (Ed.) (2011). Chinese Women's Cinema: Transnational Contexts. New York: Columbia University Press.

Recommended/Optional Readings
Henke, J.B., Zimmerman Umble, D., and Smith, N.J. (1996). Construction of the Female Self: Feminist Readings of the Disney Heroine. Women's Studies in Communication 19.2, 229-249.
Inness, S.A. ( Ed.). (2004). Action Chicks: New Images of Tough Women in Popular Culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Lindner, K. Bodies in Action: Female Athleticism on the Cinema Screen. (2011). Feminist Media Studies 11.3, 321-345.
Murai, M., and Cardi, L. (Eds.). (2020). Re-Orienting the Fairy Tale: Contemporary Adaptations Across Cultures. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
Neroni, H. (2005). The Violent Woman: Femininity, Narrative, and Violence in Contemporary American Cinema. Albany: SUNY. University Press.
Prindle, T.K. (2016). Women in Japanese Film: An Alternate Perspective. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Rana, H.S. (2020) Meheli Sen, Haunting Bollywood: Genre, Gender, and the Supernatural in Hindi Commercial Cinema. Society and Culture in South Asia 6.1.
White, P. (2015). Women's Cinema, World Cinema: Projecting Contemporary Feminisms. Durham: Duke University Press.