
Dream Factories of a Former Colony
American Fantasies, Philippine Cinema
Jose B. Capino(Author)
University of Minnesota Press
Published on 10. November 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-0-8166-6972-1 (ISBN)
Description
Philippine cinema, the dream factory of the former U.S. colony, teems with American figures and plots. Local movies feature GIs seeking Filipina brides, cold war spies hunting down native warlords, and American-born Filipinos wandering in the parental homeland. The American landscape furnishes the settings for the triumphs and tragedies of Filipino nurses, GI babies, and migrant workers.
By tracking American fantasies in Philippine movies from the postindependence period to the present, JosE B. Capino offers an innovative account of cinema's cultural work in decolonization and globalization. Capino examines how a third world nation's daydreams both articulate empire and mobilize against it, provide imaginary maps and fables of identity for its migrant workers and diasporan subjects, pose challenges to the alibis of patriarchy and nationalism, and open up paths for participating in the cultures of globality.
Through close readings of more than twenty Philippine movies, Capino demonstrates the postcolonial imagination's vital role in generating pragmatic and utopian visions of living with empire. Illuminating an important but understudied cinema, he creates a model for understanding the U.S. image in the third world.
By tracking American fantasies in Philippine movies from the postindependence period to the present, JosE B. Capino offers an innovative account of cinema's cultural work in decolonization and globalization. Capino examines how a third world nation's daydreams both articulate empire and mobilize against it, provide imaginary maps and fables of identity for its migrant workers and diasporan subjects, pose challenges to the alibis of patriarchy and nationalism, and open up paths for participating in the cultures of globality.
Through close readings of more than twenty Philippine movies, Capino demonstrates the postcolonial imagination's vital role in generating pragmatic and utopian visions of living with empire. Illuminating an important but understudied cinema, he creates a model for understanding the U.S. image in the third world.
Reviews / Votes
"A former colony of the United States, the Philippine nation has long had its own version of the American Dream, and JosE Capino does a superb job of analyzing how that bittersweet fantasy translates onto Philippine screens in this valuable book. With detailed examinations of key films from the Philippines as well as transnational productions, his groundbreaking study does so much more than provide an overview of Philippine cinema history; it makes a significant intervention in American/Philippine cultural studies and provides a novel way of approaching the connection between colonialism and global screen culture." -Gina Marchetti, author of Romance and the "Yellow Peril": Race, Sex and Discursive Strategies in Hollywood FictionMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Minnesota
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
467 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8166-6972-1 (9780816669721)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jose B. Capino is assistant professor of English and media and cinema studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Content
Contents
Note on Translations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: A Tale of Two Sisters
Part I. Visions of Empire
1. Terror Is a Man: Exploiting the Horrors of Empire
2. My Brother Is Not a Pig: American Benevolence and Philippine Sovereignty
3. (Not) Searching for My Father: G.I. Babies and Postcolonial Futures
Part II. Mobile Imaginaries
4. The Migrant Woman's Tale: On Loving and Leaving Nations
5. Filipino American Dreams: The Cultural Politics of Diasporan Films
Part III. Global Ambitions
6. Naked Brown Brothers: Exhibitionism and Festival Cinema
7. Philippine Cinema's Fatal Attractions: Appropriating Hollywood
Coda: A Tale of Two Brothers
Notes
Filmography
Index
Note on Translations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: A Tale of Two Sisters
Part I. Visions of Empire
1. Terror Is a Man: Exploiting the Horrors of Empire
2. My Brother Is Not a Pig: American Benevolence and Philippine Sovereignty
3. (Not) Searching for My Father: G.I. Babies and Postcolonial Futures
Part II. Mobile Imaginaries
4. The Migrant Woman's Tale: On Loving and Leaving Nations
5. Filipino American Dreams: The Cultural Politics of Diasporan Films
Part III. Global Ambitions
6. Naked Brown Brothers: Exhibitionism and Festival Cinema
7. Philippine Cinema's Fatal Attractions: Appropriating Hollywood
Coda: A Tale of Two Brothers
Notes
Filmography
Index