ABSTRACT
Much contemporary writing within the field of cultural studies addresses the agenda set by feminist film theory. Work on female representation in the cinema has, since the mid-seventies, been informed by Freudian psychoanalysis in attempting to explore the mechanisms by which patriarchy organizes psychosexual structures within ideology. Two articles by Laura Mulvey have been crucial in this respect: ‘Visual pleasure and narrative cinema’ (1975) and ‘Afterthoughts on “Visual pleasure and narrative cinema” inspired by Duel in the Sun’ (1981).
