Syllabus
WEEK 1: Introduction
In this seminar, students will be provided with an overview of the course and its aims and objectives. They will also share their thoughts on the following questions:
(1) What is masochism? (2) How does the dominant culture define masochism? (3) How have attitudes to masochism changed over time (is masochism now considered a 'normal' sexuality)? (4) Is female masochism a 'perversion'? (3) What is a 'perversion'? (4) Are pleasure and pain opposites? (5) Is cruelty a key element of human sexuality? (6) What might explain the emergence, in recent years, of a small but significant number of films concerned with female masochism? (6) Is masochism a passive form of sexuality? (7) Is female masochism 'bad' for feminism? Does it “re-inscribe the power dynamics of a society dominated by men”(Ruth McPhee)? (7) To what extent does female masochism challenge the ‘normative sociocultural narratives that surround heterosexual relationships’ (Ruth
McPhee)?
Preparation for the next seminar:
- read Sacher-Masoch's Venus in Furs
- read the introductory chapter of Ruth McPhee's Female Masochism in Film
- read the first section of the first chapter of Ruth McPhee's Female Masochism in
Film
- watch Venus in Fur (Roman Polanski, 2013)
WEEK 2: 'Venus in Furs', ‘Venus in Fur’, and 'Coldness & Cruelty'
In this seminar, students will analyse and explore aspects of Sacher-Masoch's novella
Venus in Furs and Roman Polanski's film Venus in Fur. They will also assess Gilles
Deleuze's conceptualization of masochism as an aesthetic in his essay 'Coldness and
Cruelty' (a summary of this essay is given in the first section of the first chapter of Ruth
McPhee's Female Masochism in Film).
Preparation for the next seminar:
- read the second section ('Masochism and Film Theory') of the first chapter of Ruth
McPhee's Female Masochism in Film
- watch The Scarlet Empress (Josef von Sternberg, 1934) and The Devil Is a Woman
(Josef von Sternberg, 1935)
- read Laura Mulvey's essay ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’
- read Linda Williams' essay 'Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess'
WEEK 3: Masochism and The Nature of the Gaze
In this seminar, students will evaluate several different film theories on the pleasures of cinematic spectatorship, as well as use these theories to explore aspects of two Hollywood films by Josef von Sternberg: The Scarlet Empress (1934) and The Devil Is a Woman
(1935).
Preparation for the next seminar:
- read the third section ('Subject/Object?') of the first chapter of Ruth McPhee's
Female Masochism in Film
- watch Sleeping Beauty (Julia Leigh, 2011)
- read the short story The House Of The Sleeping Beauties by Yasunari Kawabata
(Julia Leigh's Sleeping Beauty is based upon this short story)
WEEK 4: 'Sleeping Beauty' and Objectification
In this seminar, students will assess Ruth Mcphee's analysis of the film Sleeping Beauty
(Julia Leigh, 2011) and reflect upon the problems with objectification. They will also explore the similarities and differences between Sleeping Beauty and the short story upon which it is based.
Preparation for the next seminar:
- read the final section ('The Contract') of the first chapter of Ruth McPhee's Female
Masochism in Film
- read the essay '"Do I Disgust You?" or, Tirez Pas Sur la Pianiste' by Robin Wood
- watch La Pianiste (Michael Haneke, 2001)
WEEK 5: 'The Piano Teacher'
In this chapter, students will assess interpretations of the film La Pianiste (Michael Haneke, 2001) by Ruth McPhee and Robin Wood.
Preparation for the next seminar:
- read chapter two (“Masochism, Feminine 'Goodness' and Sacrifice”) of Ruth
McPhee's Female Masochism in Film
- watch Breaking the Waves (Lars von Trier, 1996)
- watch Red Road (Andrea Arnold, 2006)
WEEK 6: 'Breaking the Waves' and 'Red Road'
In this seminar, students will evaluate Ruth McPhee's analyses of the films Breaking the
Waves (Lars von Trier, 1996) and Red Road (Andrea Arnold, 2006). They will also compare and contrast these films with Sophocles' play Antigone.
Preparation for the next seminar:
- read chapter three ('Self-Mutilation and (a)signification') of Ruth McPhee's Female
Masochism in Film
- watch Secretary (Steven Shainberg, 2002)
- watch In My Skin (Marina de Van, 2002)
WEEK 7: 'Secretary' and 'In My Skin'
In this seminar, students will evaluate Ruth McPhee's analyses of the films Secretary
(Steven Shainberg, 2002) and In My Skin (Marina de Van, 2002).
Preparation for the next seminar:
- read chapter four ('Transgressive Reconfigurations') of Ruth McPhee's Female
Masochism in Film
- watch Romance (Catherine Breillat, 1999)
- watch In the Cut (Jane Campion, 2003)
WEEK 8: 'Romance' and 'In the Cut'
In this seminar, students will evaluate Ruth McPhee's analyses of the films Romance
(Catherine Breillat, 1999) and In the Cut (Jane Campion, 2003).
Preparation for the next seminar:
- read chapter five ('Heterocosms, Spectres and the World Remade') of Ruth
McPhee's Female Masochism in Film
- watch Amer (Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani, 2009)
- watch Female Perversions (Susan Streitfeld, 1996)
WEEK 9: 'Amer' and ‘Female Perversions’
In this seminar, students will evaluate Ruth McPhee's analysis of the film Amer (Hélène
Cattet, Bruno Forzani, 2009). They will also analyse Susan Streitfeld’s 1996 film Female
Perversions.
Preparation for the next seminar:
- read the postscript of Ruth McPhee's Female Masochism in Film
- watch The Duke of Burgundy (Peter Strickland, 2014)
- watch Young and Beautiful (Francois Ozon, 2013)
WEEK 10: 'The Duke of Burgundy' and ‘Young and Beautiful’
In this seminar, students will use the theories and concepts they have learnt from studying
Ruth McPhee's book Female Masochism in Film to analyse and evaluate the films The
Duke of Burgundy (Peter Strickland, 2014) and Young and Beautiful (Francois Ozon, 2013). They will also assess the critical responses both films have generated.
Preparation for the next seminar:
- watch The Night Porter (Liliani Cavani, 1974)
- watch Belle de jour (Luis Buñuel, 1967)
WEEK 11: 'The Night Porter' and 'Belle de jour'
In this seminar, students will use the theories and concepts they have learnt from studying
Ruth McPhee's book Female Masochism in Film to analyse and evaluate the films The
Night Porter (Liliani Cavani, 1974) and Belle de jour (Luis Buñuel, 1967). They will also assess some of the critical responses both films have generated.
Preparation for the next seminar:
- watch Elle (Paul Verhoeven, 1974)
WEEK 12: 'Elle’
In this seminar, students will use the theories and concepts they have learnt from studying
Ruth McPhee's book Female Masochism in Film to analyse and evaluate Paul
Verhoeven’s film Elle (2016). They will also assess some of the critical responses the film has generated.
Annotation
Instructor: Richard Capes
Email: ceno_bite@yahoo.com
Office Hours: by appointment
Class Day/Time: Tuesday: 3:50pm-5:35pm
Classroom: n. H205 | Hybernská 3, Praha 1 4ECTS
Course Description:
In recent years, a small but significant body of films has emerged concerned with female masochism, including such critically acclaimed works as Michael Haneke's La Pianiste
(2001), Catherine Breillat's Romance (1999), Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves (1996), and Paul Verhoeven’s Elle (2016). In this course, students will study more than ten of these films, as well as two of their precursors: Liliani Cavani's The Night Porter (1974) and
Luis Buñuel's Belle de jour (1967). They will also learn about some of the philosophical theories on masochism, subjectivity, and desire by thinkers such as Deleuze, Kristeva,
Irigaray, Lacan, Freud, and Bataille, together with several theories on the pleasures of cinematic spectatorship by film theorists such as Laura Mulvey and Linda Williams. The central aims of the course are: (1) to analyse and evaluate the portrayal of female masochism in film; and (2) to determine to what extent films about female masochism subvert normative ideas about desire, corporeality, fantasy, suffering, female sexuality, and female subjectivity.
The course consists of one 2-hour seminar a week.
There will be no film screenings for this course.
Instructor: Richard Capes