About the Book:

Looking for the Other deals with race and ethnicity in film. A generation of readers in film and cultural studies have now explored "the gaze." Using tools of psychoanalytic criticism, E. Ann Kaplan and other critics have examined how white men "look" at white women within Western culture.

In her book Looking for the Other renowned media scholar E. Ann Kaplan explores the racialized gaze: What exactly happens when whites look at non-whites? What happens when the look is returned – when "others" startle whites into knowledge of their whiteness? Looking for the Other responds to criticisms levelled at white feminist film theory for its neglect of issues to do with race. It focuses attention on the male gaze across cultures, as illustrated by Hollywood films about colonial or exotic travel, and those by women filmmakers of colour, to address such questions. Taking stock of the ways in which "looking relations" are determined – by history, tradition, myth; by national identity, power hierarchies, politics, economics, geographical and other environment – she argues that "the look," while innocent, can at least be understood in terms of the visual systems that produce it. Travel implicitly involves looking at, and looking relations with, peoples different from oneself. A secondary, linked theme of her book is the concept of "nation", with special focus on women's ethnic and transnational identities as imaged on film.

Featured films include Birth of a Nation, The Cat People, Home of the Brave, Black Narcissus, Chocolat, and Warrior Marks. Featured filmmakers include D.W.Griffith, Jacques Tourneur, Michael Powell, Julie Dash, Pratibha Parmar, Trinh T. Min-ha, and Claire Denis.

What people say:

"Author John Kaluta not only offers solutions to common stage performance problems, but explains the pitfalls to avoid as well.... Those who want a concise, nuts and bolts approach will find much of interest here and, for those, this book comes with our highest recommendation." — Stage Directions magazine

"Kaluta shows how to pull off a fine production in less than forty days on almost any budget.... This technical guide is confidently recommended for any involved in theatre at the high school, college, or community levels." — Midwest Book Review

"Kaluta shows how to pull off a fine production in less than forty days on almost any budget.... This technical guide is confidently recommended for any involved in theatre at the high school, college, or community levels." — Midwest Book Review

"Author John Kaluta could add ‘Broadway’ to the title of this book. It is an excellent resource for novices and professionals in both commercial and not-for-profit theater." — Suzanne Golden, producer, original Broadway production Prelude to a Kiss

About the Author:

E. Ann Kaplan is an American educator, author, and director. She is currently Distinguished Professor of English and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and founding director of The Humanities Institute at Stony Brook University.