June 20

2:00 PM - 3:45 PM

2.A.05

Lauren Mushro

Abstract: In this essay I examine the case studies of Imanol Uribe’s film Bwana (1996) and Chus Gutiérrez’s Retorno a Hansala (2008), both of which comment on the reception of the immigrant ‘other’ in Spain but with varying degrees of success. I begin by expounding upon the largely unanalyzed objectification of Dori’s body in Spanish filmmaker Uribe’s Bwana. Whereas the majority of critics focus on the fetishization of Ombasi as the magical negro figure, many overlook the blatant manipulation of Dori’s body throughout the film. The continued fetishization of both Dori and Ombasi’s bodies impedes the argument of the film, which Uribe states is to evince “a type of center-European racism, that is very active, belligerent, and ideological” (Constenla).

To demonstrate the effect of this objectification through the camera’s heterosexual male gaze, I contrast this film with Retorno a Hansala by Chus Gutiérrez, a female Spanish filmmaker. Drawing upon gaze and fetishization theory of Mulvey, Freud, and Lacan, I propose that Gutiérrez’s film breaks with the heteronormative conception of the passive female by reframing the gaze of the camera. This assists the viewer’s understanding of the theme of the film, which is the reconciliation between the immigrant and the receiving country through the recognition of oneself in the ‘other,’ specifically in reference to modern day Spain. I conclude that Gutiérrez’s ability to abandon unilateral and patriarchal perspectives of traditional Spanish cinema facilitates the objective of her film.

Disciplines: Comparative Literature
Political Science

Substantive Tags: Ethics and Morality, Gender and Sexuality, Identity and Ethnicity, Immigration/Migration, Racism/Nativism

Research Networks: None of the Above

Download