The Feminine Imaginary in Philippine Cinema
To Speak in Salome's Voice: The Feminine Imaginary in Philippine Cinema reexamines the figure of Salome, historically framed as a symbol of dangerous femininity, and its influence on Philippine cinema. Elvin Amerigo Valerio argues that contemporary melodrama and romance films provide a space for articulating female interiority and subjectivity. The study repositions these genres as sites where Filipino women emerge as active agents of their own narratives.
This book traces the resurgence of Philippine melodrama and romance films over the last twenty years through a feminist lens. In art and scripture, Salome stands as the archetype of dangerous female sexuality, a view long mirrored by Philippine cinema. Yet, beneath their escapist veneer, the films in this volume create a space for the “feminine imaginary”—foregrounding female interiority and fantasy.
By engaging female subjectivity, agency, and experience, this book repositions the Filipino woman on screen, from passive spectacle to becoming a speaking subject of her own desire.
List of Figures
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Prologue
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Feminine Foremothers
Chapter 3 Reframing the Feminine: Salome, the Woman’s Film and the Film Imaginary
Chapter 4 To Speak in Salome’s Voice: The Female Body and the Feminine Imaginary in Film Language
Chapter 5 Woman as Lover: Romantic Desire and Female Humour in Starting Over Again
Chapter 6 Woman as Wife: Tears and the Rearticulation of Femininity in One More Chance and A Second Chance
Chapter 7 Woman as Mother: Articulating Postfeminist Motherhood in Everything About Her
Chapter 8 Interior Lives and Cinematic Bodies: Towards a Feminine Imaginary in Philippine Cinema
References
Index
Elvin Amerigo Valerio has a PhD in Literature from De La Salle University. He is an Associate Professor in the School of Multimedia and Arts at Asia Pacific College and a member of the Southeast Asian Media Studies Association (SEAMSA).
Basic Information
- 978-629-7646-61-9 (Hardback)
