Visions of the East: Orientalism in Film
Co-edited by Matthew Bernstein (with Gaylyn Studlar)

 

Rutgers University Press, 1997

The Sheik. Pépé le Moko. Casablanca. Aladdin. Some of the most popular and frequently discussed titles in movie history are imbued with orientalism, the politically charged way in which Western artists have represented gender, race, and ethnicity in the cultures of North Africa and Asia. This is the first anthology to address and highlight orientalism in film from pre-cinema fascinations with Egyptian culture through the "Whole New World" of Aladdin. Eleven illuminating and well-illustrated essays utilize the insights of interdisciplinary cultural studies, psychoanalysis, feminism, and genre criticism. Other films discussed include The Letter, Caesar and Cleopatra, Lawrence of Arabia, Indochine, and several films of France's cinéma colonial.

Contributors: Dudley Andrew, Matthew Bernstein, Phebe Shih Chao, Mary Hamer, Marina Heung, Antonia Lant, Adrienne L. McLean, Janice Morgan, Alan Nadel, Charles O'Brien, Ella Shohat, and Gaylyn Studlar.

"The first major collection of essays on Orientalism in American and European cinema . . . is indispensable for anyone interested in the politics of visual culture." --Susan White

"A superb collection of essays which amply demonstrates that multiculturally oriented studies of cinema have come of age."
--Virginia Wright Wexman