Contours of Desire : Re-imagining Female Sexuality in Malayalam Cinema

Abstract

Malayalam cinema has over the years represented female sexuality in various contours. Of which some have strikingly been deplorable due to the transgrssive shade and punishable palour that had been given to the female characters. However after the rise of parallel cinema in the 1970s and 1980s there has been an inquiry done on the depiction of female characters and their sexuality through these movies .But the binaries of representation as pure and transgrssive continued to reign the film industry. This paper delves upon the depiction of female sexuality in select Malayalam cinema in the light of feminist film theories and the Foucauldian power theory exploring the agency and autonomy women and their bodies have received and the changes that have come about over the years. The paper looks at movies like B 32 Muthal 44 vare, aattam and Nishidho. It considers the spaces through which female agency and autonomy have been made possible and the narratives where their sexuality has been reimagined.

Presenters

Hashmina Anas Swalih
Assistant Professor, English, Farook College, Calicut, Kerala, India

Details

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Theme

Cultural Studies

KEYWORDS

FEMALE SEXUALITY, MALAYALAM CINEMA,WOMEN REPRESENTATION