Material Complementar - Culturas da Língua Inglesa

Prévia do material em texto

Profa. Dra. Andréa Cotrim
MATERIAL COMPLEMENTAR
Culturas da Língua Inglesa
Audiovisual narratives and
Critical Education:
re-building identities
 To investigate how violence permeates the work in dealing with the question of the 
non-hegemonic Other.
 More specifically, we study the African Americans and their place in society before, 
during and after the Civil Rights Movement.
 Context of production: Obama Era that allowed the production of other movies 
about the African Americans:
 Selma, The Butler, 12 years a slave, Michelle and Obama, Precious, Hidden 
Figures, The Birth of a Nation, the 13th, Nina Simone.
 To investigate the reception of the films.
 To present possibilities of working with this theme in the 
classroom for the formation of less violent identities.
Objectives
 Violence as the silencing of the Other (Gianni Vattimo, 2011).
 Critical literacy – power relations (SOUZA, 2010).
 Postcolonial theories (BHABHA, 1998; SPIVAK, 2010).
 Feminism theories (BUTLER, 1990; DAVIS, 2016; LORDE, 1980; hooks, 1989; 
COLLINS, 2000).
Theoretical Framework
Problematize the questions of:
 Representation (Saussurean sign x Bakhtinian sign)
 Violence of Representation when representing the Non-Hegemonic Other
 Race and Gender Issues (intersectionality of oppressions)
 Non-representation / Sub-representation
 Aesthetics as an ideological construction
Reality and Representation
 Socio-historical hermeneutics that starts from a problem and analyzes it by context.
 Interpretative analysis.
 Connections: bibliographic study; history of the United States and the 
cinematographic language.
 Making truths weak = deconstructing them.
 Explore the sharing of the sensitive, the experiences, 
the knowledge.
Modus operandi
Saussurean Sign = Violence of Representation
Available at: https://coolerinsights.com/2012/05/the-role-of-
semiotics-in-marketing/. Access on: January 21st, 2019.
Saussure Sign
The object / thing
Signifier
The physical existence
(sound, word, image)
Red / Leaf / Round / Apple
Signified
The mental concept
Fruit / Apple / Freshness / Healthy /
Temptation / Teacher’s pet / Computer
The system of signification according to Bakhtin
Sign 
signifiedsignifier
Interpreter
Context
Culture, gender, social class
Age, history, language
 The cinematographic representations of non-hegemonic groups have 
been stereotyped.
 In focus: the African-American trajectory in Hollywood cinema.
 Main productions of each decade that either authorized univocal senses or made a 
rupture in the canonical regime of representation.
So, the question is: How have blacks been represented in Hollywood?
Some issues concerning Hollywood
Gif available at: https://tenor.com/view/alvin-and-the-
chipmunks-what-confused-question-mark-gif-10512236
Blackface
The Birth of a Nation, Griffith, 1915. Up in the air, Howard Bretherton, 1940.
 The movie defends the idea that the Civil War disturbed the peace in the South.
 It is extremely racist. Observe the first saying: 
 The bringing of Africans to America planted the first seed of disunion.
 Black actors and actresses performed silly and submissive characters.
 Black characters were also performed by white actors and actresses wearing 
blackface. They figured criminals, lascivious and dishonest people.
 The movie wants spectators to believe that slavery wasn’t a big deal and that black 
people lived well in the plantations.
About The Birth of a Nation
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1927) and the myth of benevolent slavery
Hegemonic Representation of black men
Gone with the wind, 1939.
 Incompetent x servile 
 (Black of white soul = the 
Uncle Tom)
 Humorous / clumsy
Hegemonic Representation of black women
 Black mother or the 
Mummy
 Childish
 After Gone with the 
wind:
 Hypersexualized 
(Jezebel)
 Sassy
 The Oscar began to be delivered in 1929. The first 
nomination for a black actress (or actor) came only ten 
years later. Hattie McDaniel won for the part of Mammy, in 
Gone with the wind. 
 McDaniel was heavily criticized during her career for 
playing domestic roles that, according to civil rights 
movements, perpetuated stereotypes.
 Mammy has a hidden agenda. She looks into Scarlet's eye 
and dictates the rules.
 McDaniel is barred from attending the film's premiere with 
the current Jim Crow laws.
The mammy
Available at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0567408/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1. Access on: January, 
2019.
Rupture Attempts
Harlem after midnight, Oscar Micheaux, 1934.
Oscar Micheaux, 1888-1951.
 According to what you saw until now, check the wrong alternative:
a) Non-hegemonic groups have been represented in a stereotyped way.
b) Non-hegemonic groups such as Asians, Latinos, African Americans and 
indigenous people have been mostly represented in different ways, accordingly to 
their characters.
c) The birth of a nation was considered to be a racist movie.
d) There have been some attempts to break stereotypes related to race. 
e) Gone with the wind shows us the horror of the Civil War.
Interactivity
 According to what you saw until now, check the wrong alternative:
a) Non-hegemonic groups have been represented in a stereotyped way.
b) Non-hegemonic groups such as Asians, Latinos, African Americans and 
indigenous people have been mostly represented in different ways, accordingly to 
their characters.
c) The birth of a nation was considered to be a racist movie.
d) There have been some attempts to break stereotypes related to race. 
e) Gone with the wind shows us the horror of the Civil War.
Answer
Other stereotypes: Aunt Jemima
Available at: 
http://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199315468/student/ch6/wed/jemina/. Access 
on: June, 7th, 2018.
 Aunt Jemima is a brand of pancakes and other breakfast food. 
 This stereotype goes back to slavery and enslaved black women who used to cook 
for their “white family”.
 Another stereotype is the black person who loves eating watermelon and fried 
chicken, which is somehow related to a savage beast.
Aunt Jemima, watermelons and fried chicken (2)
Available at: https://thegrapevine.theroot.com/black-people-and-fried-chicken-a-love-
affair-in-advert-1796671441. Access on: January 30th, 2019.
Imitation of Life (1934; 1959)
The mixed-race as degenerate.
Ruptures in the modes of representation
Guess who’s coming to 
Dinner, Kramer, 1967.
To Sir, with Love, Clavell, 1967.
In the 70’s: Blaxploitation 
Shaft, Gordon 
Parks, 1971.
Black Shampoo, Greydon 
Clark, 1976.
Cleopatra Jones, Jack 
Starrett, 1973.
The 90’s
Available at: 
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2018/04/
12/spike-lee-godard-films-compete-netflix-free-
cannes/509884002/. Access on: January 29th, 2019.
 How are black people being represented nowadays? 
Think of...
a) Will Smith;
b) Idris Elba;
c) Michael Clarke Duncan (The green mile);
d) Queen Latifah;
e) Halle Berry (the catwoman).
Visibilities
 How much blackness Will Smith brings to the screens?
 We have a black in the Nordic scenery of Asgard, Idris Elba, but does he act as a 
central or peripheral character? 
 Is he the white man's best friend?
 Or is the black person only a good or magical, 
exotic, comic character?
 How about black actresses? Do they act in roles 
other than the sexy, bold, bossy or stupid girls?
Contemporary vulnerabilities
The Obama Era (2006-2016)
 The Help tells the story of black maids who took care of the children of their white 
bosses in Mississippi during a time of racial segregation in the Southern states. 
Among other things, they were prohibited from using their employer's bathrooms 
and using the same cutlery. They finally decide to write their story with the help 
of Skeeter.
 Selma tells us about the several marches organized in the United States to protest 
against the injustices occasioned by segregation laws likeJim Crow and Separate 
but equal. The film also shows us the leadership of Martin Luther King and his 
perseverance in the Civil Rights Movement.
 Freedom is the story of a man who tries to scape slavery 
with his family, fleeing the underground railroads and 
receiving help from black and Canadian abolitionists.
Synopsis
 Django Unchained deals with the friendship between a 
bounty hunter and an enslaved man. The interesting thing 
about the film is the fact that director, Quentin Tarantino, 
shifts the mythical figure of the American cowboy into the 
hands of a black man.
 The Butler is an extremely interesting film because it tells 
the true story of a man who has faced racial prejudice 
since the time of the plantations in the South, facing the 
separatist politics and watching the cultural and resistance 
movements led by Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, the 
Black Panthers etc. The butler works in the White House 
and has to deal with political negotiations that either go 
against or in favor of his people.
Synopsis (2)
 What happened, Miss Simone? talks about the famous singer, Nina Simone, and 
her political engagement. 
 12 years a slave tells the story of a free black man who is kidnapped and spends 
12 years living as a slave in the plantations of the South. The movie plays with the 
camera that “breaks the fourth wall”, in a scene, inviting us to reflect on what 
happened in that period.
Synopsis (3)
 The hateful eight, by Tarantino, points to marginalized groups in the United States 
during the Southern Reconstruction period. Meanwhile, Precious, by Lee Daniels, 
shows the prejudices suffered by a poor, overweight black girl.
Synopsis (4)
 I am not your negro, the 13th and O. J. Made in 
America are documentaries about black people. The 
first production depicts the work of writer James 
Baldwin on racism. The 13th is about the system of 
mass incarceration of blacks since the time 
of Reconstruction.
 Finally, the latter deals with the trial 
of player O. J. Simpson, due to the 
murder he had committed against 
his wife.
The Obama Era – Oscar 2017
 Hidden Figures tells the story of a team of three black 
scientists, who worked for NASA during the space race 
between the United States and the Soviet Union, while 
there was segregation in the Southern states. In 
addition to this, they had to face gender bias.
 The production has been criticized due to the fact that, 
as in many other films, there is always a white person 
in charge of helping black people. It happens mainly 
when either the director or the producer is white.
 This issue is quite 
controversial. Even so, it is 
worth seeing it.
The Obama Era – Oscar 2017 (2)
 The birth of a nation 
has a title that goes 
back to Griffith's film. 
The film is not 
nominated for the 
Oscar, but raises all the 
black protagonists in 
getting rid of the 
slave regime.
 One of the finalists for the 2017 
Oscar is Fences. The title loses 
its dramatic charge when 
translated into Portuguese as 
Um limite entre nós. The 
production brings up themes 
such as the scarcity of work 
and the absence of 
opportunities that corroborate 
our claustrophobic feeling.
The Obama Era – Oscar 2017 (3)
Check what is wrong about the blaxploitation:
a) It was a movement which took place during the 60’s.
b) Black people used to take over main roles in independent films.
c) Black actors and actresses play characters like the police officer, previously 
intended for whites.
d) In despite of being hypersexualized, black women are strong, fearless 
and powerful.
e) The blaxploitation movement changes the stereotypes 
about black people since they become visible as people 
with some prestige.
Interactivity
Check what is wrong about the blaxploitation:
a) It was a movement which took place during the 60’s.
b) Black people used to take over main roles in independent films.
c) Black actors and actresses play characters like the police officer, previously 
intended for whites.
d) In despite of being hypersexualized, black women are strong, fearless 
and powerful.
e) The blaxploitation movement changes the stereotypes 
about black people since they become visible as people 
with some prestige.
Answer
 The Academy is accused of ignoring black artists in major categories. The 
#oscarsowhite dominated social networks in protest, articulated by Will Smith's 
wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Spike Lee. The hashtag spreads itself, resulting in the 
absence of lots of black and white artists in the 2016 ceremony.
 This action has a direct link with the indignation of the black community, facing the 
conflicts that took the streets of the United States, due to the deaths of blacks by 
police officers. Thousands of people went to the streets, generating the Black Lives 
Matter movement.
#oscarsowhite and black lives matter
 What we see from the films of white filmmakers on the black theme is the 
insistence on an active participation, that is, whites also cooperated in the 
abolitionist struggles and other emancipatory movements. Sometimes white is 
exalted, while blacks are helpless.
We must investigate how the black directors represented their communities. Did the 
violence of representation become softer when the director was black?
How has the protagonism of a race been evidenced 
or obliterated?
Representation and representativeness
And, in what way, the Oscar, mostly represented by whites, in 2016, taking The 
Revenant to the category of best film, influenced and was influenced by the 
#oscarsowhite movement, culminating in the award of Moonlight, in the 
following year?
 These sentences are reflections I wrote in my doctoral thesis. Take a look at the 
third chapter in: http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8147/tde-10042018-
122248/pt-br.php.
Representation and representativeness 
 In the wake of the retrogression, the largest film industry clings to the casting of 
actors with the WASP phenotype for roles of other nationalities. This phenomenon 
is called whitewashing. It consists of replacing fictional or historical characters of 
diverse ethnicities by white-skinned American actors. This can be considered a 
violence of representation, as when we see Scarlett Johansson as a Japanese 
(with the purest American English accent!).
Points to ponder: whitewashing
 Moonlight took the statuette right after La La Land had 
been announced as the winner.
 The film narrates several intersected subjectivities: the 
difficulties of a poor life, access to drugs, racial prejudice 
and repressed homosexuality, all in the key of extreme 
violence.
 The frame shows the character, Little, compressed, 
between walls, denoting the asphyxia, caused by the 
dilemma of accepting and being accepted.
And the winner is...
 The Marvel Comics movie rescues the hero, Black 
Panther, and turns him into a new avenger. Besides the 
huge profit, the production broke with the classic regime of 
representation of the black.
 The next slide shows the intertextuality between Marvel's 
Black Panther and a photo of Black Panther Party co-
founder Huey Newton.
 The two images evoke the power of both, seated on the 
throne adorned with elements of African ancestry.
After Obama
Black Panther
 This movie depicts an African American police officer who 
manages to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan branch, a 
segregation organization, with the help of a Jewish 
surrogate who eventually becomes its leader. It has some 
comic scenes, even treating such a controversial theme 
like this. The director, Spike Lee, wants to remind us of the 
horrible times imposed by the supremacists we still find 
today, unfortunately.
Running for the Oscar 2019
 Green book is the story of an unlikely friendship between an Italian bodyguard and 
a black pianist who decides to make a tour in the Southernof the United States. 
The film deals with the racial subject, but it is softened by the comic tone of some 
scenes.
 The film also shows us that we see the Other with our lenses and that to change 
that look we must have contact with that other.
Green book
Reconciliation
Check the wrong alternative:
a) #oscarsowhite was a trend topic on social networks. It defended more 
participation of blacks in the Oscar ceremony.
b) Black lives matter is a movement that calls people’s attention to the murder of 
black people by police officers.
c) Being a black actor or actress does not necessarily mean greater 
representativeness in the cinema industry. We must pay attention to the 
relevance of the paper as well.
d) Quite often white directors prioritize the white’s 
protagonism even in a film about black history.
e) Whitewashing is when a black person performs a famous 
white character.
Interactivity
Check the wrong alternative:
a) #oscarsowhite was a trend topic on social networks. It defended more 
participation of blacks in the Oscar ceremony.
b) Black lives matter is a movement that calls people’s attention to the murder of 
black people by police officers.
c) Being a black actor or actress does not necessarily mean greater 
representativeness in the cinema industry. We must pay attention to the 
relevance of the paper as well.
d) Quite often white directors prioritize the white’s 
protagonism even in a film about black history.
e) Whitewashing is when a black person performs a famous 
white character.
Answer
These productions are quite interesting to be analysed because:
a) Both provides us a large amount of historical facts.
b) They both legitimize and deconstruct stereotypes. 
c) We can also learn more about race and gender issues.
In focus: Django Unchained and The Help
Plongée shot: The lost cause and the benevolent slavery
 When Django whips 
his Foreman, he 
changes the 
spectators’ 
perception of an old 
regime of 
representation. The 
aesthetics provides 
us empowerment.
Carnivalization of violence 
Re-distribution of the sensible
Reinforcing or breaking stereotypes?
 Jim Crow and Separate but equal x Civil Rights Movement.
 (Luther King, Malcolm X, Black Panthers).
Historical context
Racism in the private world
 “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves 
and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table 
of brotherhood. 
 I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they 
will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I 
have a dream today!” MLK
Available at: 
http://www.americanrheto
ric.com/speeches/mlkihav
eadream.htm.
Intertextuality
 Literacy: designates the social practices of writing that involve knowledge, the 
relations of power in certain contexts and means. (STREET, 2003)
 Working with themes: ethics, diversity, racism, chauvinism, sustainability, 
citizenship, mobility, eating disorders, bullying.
 To problematize the distances between cultures by the analysis of the loci 
of enunciation.
 Explore the myths of the nation: racial democracy (Brazil).
Visual Critical Literacy in the Classroom
We came to the conclusion that the violence of representation comes in many 
directions. It can be:
 Plastic-imagetic violence – construction, in which blood spurts on the screen and 
the shootings doesn’t seem to end.
 Linguistic violence – use of derogative references – nigger etc.
 Physical violence – Mandingo struggle, persecution, lashing. 
 Sound violence – hip hop lyrics that call for freedom/justice (till today).
 Symbolic violence – rawness of the history itself; power 
relations and their consequences.
 Ethical violence – the other ceases to exist and has no 
right to narrate himself.
Conclusion
 I hope you have realized that some movies represent non-hegemonic people with a 
bad sign.
That’s why we have to pay close attention to the modes of representation. Do the 
director, the screenplayer, the characters use stereotypes to figure a social group?
 We also reflected upon the importance of representativeness.
Do we have enough black people in the movies? And what kinds of roles do 
they play? 
What about women? How are they being represented? Do 
they appear only in supporting roles or do they show 
some protagonism?
Are they sexy, intelligent, sassy or stupid?
Conclusion (2)
 Try to reflect, as a future teacher, how important it is to deal with these issues in the 
classroom, with the intention of reducing social inequalities. How would you 
develop a film project at your school?
 To help you, I would appreciate it if you could read an interview about 
representativeness that I gave to a newspaper.
Conclusion (3)
 In this article, I explain how we still lack black directors in Hollywood and, by 
extension, in Brazil and how movies still operate in the wake of the stereotypes of 
the sassy black girls and bossy women, among others. Enjoy it!
For more information, take a look at:
 <https://emais.estadao.com.br/noticias/tv,apenas-4-mulheres-negras-dirigiram-
filmes-de-hollywood-nos-ultimos-dez-anos,70002442585?from=whatsapp>.
 I hope you have enjoyed this class! Give me some 
feedback!
Conclusion (3)
 All the pictures were taken from the website https://www.imdb.com/.
References
What is wrong about Critical Education or Critical Literacy?
a) Learners know more about the relations of power.
b) Students do not come across issues like gender and racism.
c) Teachers’ aim is to problematize the distance between cultures.
d) Myths and history are important too.
e) When working with cinema, teachers are supposed to provide a multimodal 
analysis.
Interactivity
What is wrong about Critical Education or Critical Literacy?
a) Learners know more about the relations of power.
b) Students do not come across issues like gender and racism.
c) Teachers’ aim is to problematize the distance between cultures.
d) Myths and history are important too.
e) When working with cinema, teachers are supposed to provide a multimodal 
analysis.
Answer
SEE YOU!