Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 18). / by Julia Barco. / M.S.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 346-348). Also available on the Internet.

This dissertation scrutinizes a corpus of films considered to be the stylistic and thematic descendants of Yasujiro Ozu, which I call “feeling of life films.” Focusing upon common themes such as female narrative and the portrayals of the quotidian, this dissertation identifies various methods used in specific films of Ozu, Hou Hsiao Hsien, and Tran Anh Hung that complicate narrative meaning and engage in the discourse of national modernity and history. The female protagonists of these films can be considered “left behind” by the narrative progression of history, serving an allegorical function that critiques standard notions of time and official history. The basis for understanding this phenomenon will be scholarly discourse primarily concerning Ozu’s “Noriko Trilogy,” which marks the transitional period of post-war Japan through the narrative of a woman’s path to marriage. This dissertation seeks to complicate the discourse of reading women in these films by introducing different methodologies of formalist analysis, cultural analysis, theoretic discourse, historiography, and phenomenology. In doing so, this dissertation demonstrates the cinematic importance of these films through their unique formal characteristics and their cultural and historical meanings. / published_or_final_version / Literary and Cultural Studies / Master / Master of Arts

In the past decade, Ann Hui as a well-known filmmaker has produced several films concerning women in their middle and older age. My research examines two of her films, The Postmodern Life of My Aunt(2006)and All About Love(2010). By carefully reading and analyzing the two texts, my research reveal show Chinese middle-aged women construct their gender identities and develop their visions of home in Shanghai and Hong Kong respectively. It focuses on how this group of women experience inner and social contradictions in the process of establishing individual subjectivities as well as how they deal with tensions and difficulties in the domestic sphere. I argue that the two films represent middle-aged females’ fractured identities and their intense struggles between individual desires and domestic obligations. They have created alternative meanings for femininity and home, subverting the traditional image of women as dutiful wives and mothers as well as the romanticized vision of home as a haven for security and comfort. Moreover, the ambivalence and multiplicity of meanings in the two texts may lead us to reflect upon the complexity of middle-aged women’s lived experiences amidst unrelenting economic development and confining social norms. By studying Ann Hui’s cinematic representation of aging women’s lives, it is significant for us to explore possible ways for females to challenge conventional gender roles, to create new meanings of home, as well as to realize gender equality and sexual diversity in society. / published_or_final_version / Literary and Cultural Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 31-32).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 31-32). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2000. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 346-348).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 294-308).

published_or_final_version / Literary Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Literary and Cultural Studies / Master / Master of Arts