The Ukrainian-American avant-garde video artist Maya Deren is going to be in the object of study in the main body of this paper which focuses on the question of what, in particular, makes her representations of femininity outstanding and contrary to the ones in the contemporary woman's film.
As to the structure of the paper at hand, the first part will briefly outline Simone de Beauvoir’s academic theory of femininity, the key aspects of representation of women in woman’s cinema and give information on avant-garde cinema. In the second part, then, Maya Deren's approach to gender will be introduced. Following and based on the first part, the third part will then closely analyze, how femininity is treated in her works and, thus, how it differs from the woman’s film’s approach. Finally, the results will be summarized into a conclusion and an outlook will be offered.
Table of Contents
1.) Introduction
I.) Theoretical Part
2.1.) Simone de Beauvoir
2.2.) The Woman´s Film
2.3.) US-American Avant-Garde / Experimental Film in the 1940s
3.) Maya Deren
3.1.) Femininity in Maya Deren’s Life and Works
II.) Practical Part
3.2.) In Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
3.2.1.) The Protagonist
3.2.1.1.) The “Mirror-Faced Woman”
3.1.1.2.) Femininity / Masculinity
3.2.2.) In Ritual in Transfigured Time (1946)
3.2.2.1.) Femininities / Masculinity
4.) Conclusion
Objectives and Research Themes
This paper examines how the avant-garde filmmaker Maya Deren re-invented representations of femininity in her work, contrasting these with the conventional depictions found in 1940s "woman’s films." By applying Simone de Beauvoir’s theory of gender as a social construct, the research explores how Deren’s protagonists transition from being objects of the male gaze to active subjects who negotiate and redefine their own identities.
- Theoretical analysis of Simone de Beauvoir’s "The Second Sex" and its relation to gender performativity.
- Critique of the 1940s "woman’s film" genre and its reliance on traditional domestic and emotional archetypes.
- Exploration of US-American Avant-Garde film techniques and their role in personal, subconscious expression.
- Case studies of Maya Deren’s "Meshes of the Afternoon" and "Ritual in Transfigured Time" regarding the representation of multiple female personalities.
Auszug aus dem Buch
3.2.1.) The Protagonist
In Meshes, Deren mimes a woman seemingly undergoing the same experience over and over again. On her way home, she catches sight of a person or rather a figure with a mirror in place of a face. Next, she unlocks the door of which seems to be her house, enters, goes upstairs and lies down to sleep. In her dreams, she sees herself going through what happened again and again.
Subverting the male gaze, Meshes is mainly taken from the point of view of the female protagonist. Consequently, playing with gender conventions, Deren made her female characters both the subject and the object of the of male gaze, bridging the “alienated world of female objectification and [simultaneously employing] “imagery” of one of the female subjectivity” (Rabinovitz, Lauren. Points of Resistance: Women, Power & Politics in the New York Avant-Garde Cinema, 1943-71. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1991, p. 62.) In doing so, she managed to win control over it.
In Meshes, particularly, she creates a dream as a, as it were, figurative device in order to self-reflect on her very own subject position in society. In using dreams, as well as repetition, in stylistic terms, she is trying to escape the linearity of masculine order and design medium. (Chi-Ming Siu, Anthony. Gender(ed) Fables of Maya Deren, Hong Kong, 2001, p. 50) As already mentioned earlier, what is so special about her works, is the fact that she puts her characters in a setting reminiscent of a psychological drama, rather than a woman´s film, in which they go through various forms of transformations. (Turim) Remarkably and accordingly, the women main characters never fit the contemporary filmic gender conventions and, in almost each and every case, their psychological complexities, often in the form of multiple personalities, are revealed and explored.
Summary of Chapters
1.) Introduction: Introduces the theoretical foundation based on Simone de Beauvoir and outlines the research objective of analyzing Maya Deren's subversive approach to gender in cinema.
I.) Theoretical Part: Sets the academic framework by discussing Beauvoir’s theory of othering, the limitations of the 1940s "woman’s film," and the aesthetic characteristics of the American avant-garde.
3.) Maya Deren: Analyzes Deren’s personal philosophy regarding her role as an artist and her deliberate effort to create a new "woman’s story" that bypasses standard feminist labels.
II.) Practical Part: Provides a detailed filmic analysis of "Meshes of the Afternoon" and "Ritual in Transfigured Time," focusing on how Deren employs experimental techniques to represent fragmentation and liberation.
4.) Conclusion: Synthesizes the findings, confirming that Deren successfully created a complex form of femininity that defies binary gender constraints.
Keywords
Maya Deren, Femininity, Avant-Garde Cinema, Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Meshes of the Afternoon, Ritual in Transfigured Time, Gender construction, Female authorship, Male gaze, Othering, Psychological drama, Experimental film, Identity, Fragmentation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this paper?
The paper explores the representation of femininity in the films of Maya Deren, specifically analyzing how she challenged the gender conventions prevalent in 1940s cinema.
What are the primary thematic fields?
The research covers avant-garde film history, feminist film theory, the intersection of gender and performance, and the psychological deconstruction of female characters.
What is the main research question?
The study investigates what makes Maya Deren's representation of femininity outstanding and distinctly different from the contemporary "woman’s film" of the 1940s.
Which scientific methodology is applied?
The work employs a combination of film analysis and theoretical discourse, utilizing Simone de Beauvoir's feminist philosophy and various film-critical frameworks to interpret Deren's visual language.
What is covered in the main body of the paper?
The main body is divided into a theoretical section establishing the context of gender and avant-garde cinema, and a practical section providing a close analysis of two specific films: "Meshes of the Afternoon" and "Ritual in Transfigured Time."
Which keywords define this work?
Key terms include Maya Deren, femininity, avant-garde, male gaze, identity, fragmentation, and gender performativity.
How does Maya Deren utilize the "Mirror-Faced Woman" in her films?
The figure is interpreted as a manifestation of multiple personalities or a primal mother archetype, serving to disrupt the protagonist's identity and reflect the constructed nature of womanhood.
What significance does the "ocean" have in the discussed films?
The ocean is analyzed as a site of rebirth and a means for Deren’s characters to escape the oppressive, structured roles imposed by men, allowing for the transition toward a fluid, evolving identity.
- Citar trabajo
- Victoria Schatara (Autor), 2019, Countering Established Conventions. Re-Inventions of Femininity in Maya Deren's Avant-Garde Cinema, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/540069
