Deborah E. Barker

Reconstructing Violence: The Southern Rape Complex in Film and Literature - Southern Literary Studies Deborah E. Barker

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index. Biographical Note: Deborah E. Barker is professor of English at the University of Mississippi. She is the author of Aesthetics and Gender in American Literature: The Portrait of the Woman Artist and the coeditor, with Kathryn McKee, of American Cinema and the Southern Imaginary. Publisher Marketing: In this bold study of cinematic depictions of violence in the south, Deborah E. Barker explores the ongoing legacy of the southern rape complex in American film. Taking as her starting point D. W. Griffith s infamous Birth of a Nation, Barker demonstrates how the tropes and imagery of the southern rape complex continue to assert themselves across a multitude of genres, time periods, and stylistic modes. Drawing from Gilles Deleuze s work on cinema, Barker examines plot, dialogue, and camera technique as she considers several films: The Story of Temple Drake (1933), Sanctuary (1958), Touch of Evil (1958), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), and Cape Fear (1962). Placing this body of analysis in the context of the historical periods when these films appeared and the literary sources on which they are based, Barker reveals the protean power of cinematic racialized violence amid the shifting cultural and political landscapes of the South and the nation as a whole. By focusing on familiar literary and cinematic texts each produced or set during moments of national crisis such as the Great Depression or the civil rights movement Barker s Reconstructing Violence offers fresh insights into the anxiety that has underpinned sexual and racial violence in cinematic representations of the South."

Contributor Bio:  Barker, Deborah .".... We are but ashes of fallen stars..." I have written poetry since childhood and wanted to leave some footprints in the sand by sharing my words in a book. I still have no idea of how or why I write - it just sort of hits me often at the most inappropriate times (such as in the middle of listening to a concert or when just nodding off to sleep). My 49 odd years of living on this planet has provided a rich and varied seam of material. Significantly, moving back Homeward to the spectacular landscape of North Wales in my 40s has topped up my well of inspiration. Murmurative Dances: - A few little facts about me... * I am 100% made in Wales * I have lived in 28 houses in different parts of the UK * I earn my living as a holistic therapist - massageinmotion.co.uk * I have gradually lost my sense of smell over the years and would like to think that it has been replaced by a strong sense of intuition and need for colour in my life. * I play a mean game of Scrabble * I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up.... I am available for poetry recitals and perform in a poetry/classical guitar duo with Jonathan Richards. Contact me via deborah.barker@fsmail.net for bookings or for further copies of this book.