Often patronizingly dismissed as 'women's weepies', this course will examine the proliferation and transformation of melodrama film within various national, subnational, postcolonial and global contexts. The course will focus on the specific language and conventions of melodrama - the way its codes and significance transform as it travels through India, China, Japan and South America among other global film contexts. Unbinding melodrama from simplistic stereotypes, students will instead study melodrama's various manifestations in relation to questions of genre, gender, race, affect and style. The course is open to all sophomores including film and non-film minors / majors at Wesleyan. No previous experience in Film is required. |