American Film Studies Commons^™

Introduction To Volume Eleven: Reading, Writing, And Teaching In The Whirlwind, Noelle Brada-Williams

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

No abstract provided.

Cover Of Volume 11, Emily Chan

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

No abstract provided.

2022 Iggad Conference Program, Charles Joyner Institute For Gullah And African Diaspora Studies

IGGAD Conference Programs

Program of the 2022 IGGAD Conference: Who Owns This? Communities, Heritage, and Preservation.

Fashioning The Flapper: Clothing As A Catalyst For Social Change In 1920s America, Julia Wolffe

Honors Program Theses

Fashion has been a catalyst for social change throughout human history. Fashion in 1920s America in particular reflects society's rapidly evolving attitudes towards gender and race. Beginning with how corsetry heavily restricted women for nearly four hundred years up until the twentieth century, this thesis explores how clothing has acted as a tool for societal progression following World War I and Women's Suffrage and during the Jazz Age and The Harlem Renaissance. Specifically, this thesis examines how the influence of jazz music and dance that originated from Black American communities led to the creation of the flapper evening dress. The …

Afroam: A Virtual Film Production Group, Bill Taylor Jr.

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Because of the gatekeeping practices of the Hollywood film industry, and the high cost of both filmmaking and distribution in general, Afro-American filmmakers have struggled to produce films with “global reach.” This study visits the possibility of Afro-American filmmakers using alternative technologies and infrastructures to produce high-quality films, thereby bypassing the high cost and exclusionary practices of Hollywood studios. Using new 21st-century digital technology, this study involved the creation of a small geographically dispersed virtual film production team. The study’s foundational framework was a constructivist qualitative research paradigm, using Action Research, and supported by 24 months of triangulated data from …

Over The Edge: Suburban Planned Communities, The Second Frontier, And The Rise Of 80s High School Films, Daniel Mcclure

Far West Popular Culture Association Annual Conference

While many 1980s youth-oriented films often sold various images of consumption, Over the Edge was one of the early prototypes of the genre, offering a more sober—a more 70s—outlook on youth attempting to find meaning and identity in a corporate-driven, materialistic space called American suburbia. Both a setting for paradise as well as an existential hell for the youth growing up amidst it, the film mobilizes the West and its frontier-like majesty haunting the characters’ space in the planned development of New Granada—a place where families are safe and entrepreneurs can thrive. Specters of the West haunt the film—from the …

Dancing Through Time: A Biographical Look On The Evolution Of Tap Dance, Jaimie Cranford

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A uniquely American art form, tap dance has often been misrepresented and under-appreciated when positioned alongside other dance forms. This is largely due to the form’s racialized history, which builds upon contributions from African-American culture. Unlike other dance forms, which stem from white European traditions, tap dance evolved out of a necessity for cultural preservation as enslaved Africans adapted to life in America. As tap dance evolved, its association with slave culture led to it not being taken seriously; if anything, tap dancers were viewed simply as “entertainers” – certainly not as artists. Using a biographical lens, this work looks …

Stuart Hall & Theory Of Representation In The Media: Exploring Get Out And Candyman, Lashanna Bryant

Capstone Showcase

Media representation has aided in creating a toxic manifestation of what it means to be Black in America. More specifically, the exploration of Black characters in horror films has opened many doors to hidden racism, discrimination, and oversimplification of their culture and their value in society. In looking into the films Candyman and Get Out there is a clear progression throughout the early 1990s to the mid 2010s that detail a very rapid change from taking a Black character from a background role to the main character.

I Didn't Know Aiiieeeee, But It Knew Me, Adrienne Su

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

"I Didn't Know Aiiieeeee, But It Knew Me" is a poem that reflects on the influence of both the anthology and the word Aiiieeeee on the writer's development. It uses an adaptation of the ghazal to explore both the continuities and discontinuities of becoming a writer when Asian-American literature was mostly inaccessible.

Movement Upstream, Downstream: A Lyric Essay, Mong- Lan

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

Early on, without knowing I was part of a movement, I was part of the movement of the Asian American cultural and literary phenomenon.

Because it was necessary to bear witness, to tell my story, my stories, our stories, the collective story, my observations, which keeps on unravelling, I began to write.

Some Thoughts On Aiiieeeee! In 2019, Shawna Ryan

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

A creative writer reflects on the legacy of Aiiieeeee!

Aiiieeeee!’S No! In Thunder, Leslie Bow

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

This accessible, brief, first person essay evaluates the legacy and rhetoric of the 1974 Aiiieeeee!: An Anthology of Asian-American Writers. It examines the ways in which the anthology’s front matter fosters both inclusions and exclusions as it establishes foundational rubrics for Asian American literature and assesses the volume’s continuing value for scholars.

Mantos, Unmasked 曼托, Russell C. Leong

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

No abstract provided.

Zuihitsu: Teaching Aiiieeeee! As Intersectional Ecological Archive, Kenji C. Liu

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

A response to the Aiiieeeee! anthology on its 45th anniversary, using the Japanese zuihitsu form to reflect on its intersectional and ecological complexities and relevance for today.

The Big Aiiieeeee! In Process, Patricia Y. Ikeda

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

On its 45th publication anniversary, we can see the Aiiieeeee! anthology of Asian American literature in context of revolutionary process, a process of persistence that in the long run gains momentum as fruitful resistance to white, Eurocentric hegemony.

We Are Here, Susan K. Ito

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

No abstract provided.

Aiiieeeee! And I, Bryan Thao Worra

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

No abstract provided.

The Gift Of Aiiieeeee!, David Mura

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

This article chronicles the influence of the groundbreaking Asian American anthology Aiiieeeee! on the work of Japanese American and Asian American author David Mura.

On The Republication Of Aiiieeeee!, Garrett Hongo

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

A note on republication of AIIIEEEEE!

Gender, Race, And Class In Various Aspects Of American Literature: A Portfolio, Harry Olafsen

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

In this portfolio, Harry Olafsen takes a closer look at various texts in American Literature, including women in 1960s country music, Us directed by Jordan Peele, and southern women's diaries from the Civil War.

“Well, I’Ve Whispered ‘Racism’ In A Post-Racial World”: Satire And The Absurdity Of “Post-Racial” America, Joseph Gorman

Master’s Theses and Projects

The purpose of this thesis project is to look at the works of contemporary African American satirists as they confront post-racial ideology. In looking at the works of Jordan Peele, Paul Beatty, Mat Johnson, and Boots Riley, thematic threads emerge to form a portrait of dire unrest amongst those non-white identities living in an allegedly post-racial world. Before analyzing the works, I first contextualize the thesis with a brief discussion of satire as a literary genre and African American satire as a literary subgenre, as well as address the emergence of post-racial ideology during the tenure of Barack Obama as …

Remixing The Archives: Indigenous Interpretations Of History And The Future, Marcella Alexis Ernest

American Studies ETDs

This dissertation examines how Native art makes critical interventions that are aesthetically and intellectually arranged with the intention of displacing the master narratives. The project tracks how film and photography—historically used by non-Native people as a tool of colonialism—are being reclaimed by the visual and sonic scholarship of contemporary Native artists. The project shows how multidisciplinary artists use technology to remix audiovisual archives from a specific time in American history: portrait photography and ethnographic filmmaking at the turn of the twentieth century, Hollywood’s frontier representations of Indianness in twentieth-century motion pictures, social guidance classroom films from the 1950s, and digital …

Night Of The Witch: Alternative Spirituality, Identity And Media, Andreana Tarleton

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis works to understand the relationships witches and conjurors have with the film and television depictions of them. Employing the method of film critique, I argue that the witch stands as a cultural symbol in the US of women and femmes with power, and that their stories serve as lessons to these populations about what it means to be an acceptable woman or femme, while simultaneously creating and perpetuating stereotypes of magic practitioners. Then, using the combination of hashtag ethnography, in-person and video interviewing and internet surveys, I argue that #witchblr and #witchesofcolor, as well as the space of …

2020 Iggad Conference Program, Charles Joyner Institute For Gullah And African Diaspora Studies

IGGAD Conference Programs

Program of the 2020 IGGAD Conference: Without Borders: Tracing the Cultural, Archival, and Political African Diaspora.

Diversifying Representation In Film: An Examination Of Racial And Ethnic Inclusivity In Black Panther And Crazy Rich Asians, Alexandria Hatchett

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Although Hollywood films are distributed globally, they have historically featured white actors and reflected Western life. As Hollywood influences one’s understanding of race in the United States, Black Panther (2018) and Crazy Rich Asian’s (2018) inclusion of racial and ethnic minorities combat racism and xenophobia and reveal alternate ways in which power is manifested in society. This thesis project utilizes critical rhetoric as its method to give a voice to communities of color that have been marginalized due to colonization and persistent structural racism. It employs Critical Race Theory, postcolonialism, and Afrofuturism as its theoretical lenses to explain how race …

Introduction To Volume Ten: Aiiieeeee! At 45, Tara Fickle, Wei Ming Dariotis

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

The editors of the special issue on Aiiieeeee! locate the seminal anthology within the history of Asian American literature as a scholarly discipline and contextualize contributor's responses to the personal and cumulative effects of Aiiieeeee! on the Asian American literary landscape.

Cypher [How An Anthology Helped A Mixed-Race Filipino American Writer Draft A Novel], Brian Ascalon Roley

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

In this work of creative nonfiction, Brian Ascalon Roley, the author of American Son (W.W. Norton, 2001) recounts the cultural landscape of the late 20^thc. America for Filipino American and mixed-race writers as he recounts some of the events that influenced his novel’s conception and explains how stumbling upon an anthology helped him to revise the draft. It was one of the first novels to feature mixed-race Filipino American characters, and would go on to receive the Association of Asian American Studies Award.

Anna May Wong: Chinese-American Actress, Katherine Anielak

Undergraduate Research Journal

The United States’ film industry has an extensive and rich history that also offers insight into the development of American culture. However, the history of Hollywood includes many cases of discrimination, racism, and the use of stereotypes within roles. Films reflect societal constructs and beliefs, including stereotypes that European Americans had against non-white immigrants and citizens. Asian-Americans especially suffered from stereotypes and discrimination within the United States in the early 20th Century. Such stereotypes and racism appeared in both the films produced in Hollywood, and within Hollywood and the film industry itself. Anna May Wong, the first Chinese-American film actress, …

Diversity And Democracy At War: Analyzing Race And Ethnicity In Squad Films From 1940-1960, Lara K. Jacobson

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

Both the Second World War and the Korean War presented Hollywood with the opportunity to produce combat films that roused patriotic spirit amongst the American people. The obvious choice was to continue making the popular squad films that portrayed a group of soldiers working together to overcome a common challenge posed by the war. However, in the wake of various racial and ethnic tensions consistently unfolding in the United States from 1940 to 1960, it became apparent to Hollywood that the nation needed pictures of unity more than ever, especially if America was going to win its wars. Using combat …

The Unsung Hero Character: A Harbinger Device Of Misfortune, Eutimio Talavera

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis introduces an obscure storytelling device, The Unsung Hero character, as one way of examining how movies function as stories. This character is often overlooked, as it frequently cloaks its idiosyncrasies, thus it lacks any apparent signs of internal conflict. This analysis foregrounds the character’s overall functionality, found only in rare instances and typically in the story of a movie. With effective implementation in a story, as a functional harbinger device, brief appearances of The Unsung Hero character demonstrate flashpoints or disclosures of a forthcoming misfortune in the story. This movie analysis shows how The Unsung Hero character functions …