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.
A GUILTY PLEASURE OR A RADICAL ACT OF FEMALE EXPRESSION?
To Speak in Salome’s Voice: The Feminine Imaginary in Philippine Cinema 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)
