Thailand, Western Cinema, and Imagery

Misrepresentation, Exoticisation, and Reclamation

Thailand, Western Cinema, and Imagery cover

Thailand, Western Cinema, and Imagery

Misrepresentation, Exoticisation, and Reclamation

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Description

In this book, Andrew Russell explores Western media’s fascination with images of the East by focusing primarily on Thailand as a case study. Russell argues that Hollywood’s representation of Thailand still relies heavily on an Orientalist gaze filled with stereotypes that exoticise and eroticise both the country and its people. Furthermore, he also addresses the impact this has had on Thai filmmakers, who have at times utilised a process of erasure by reducing national specificity in their films to prime them for global export, building on previously successful waves from other areas of Asia, like the J-Horror cycle, that made way for their inclusion in the Western marketplace. Despite these trends, however, this book finds that Thai filmmakers are reclaiming the imagery of their country and people in the arthouse sector, utilising critically divisive slow cinema aesthetics to address pertinent allegorical content. Ultimately, this book argues that through an understanding of the context and culture of production, we can gain new understanding of important political, factual, and artistic history that reveals a unique version of Thailand not previously seen on Western screens. Scholars of film studies, Asian studies, cultural studies, and history will find this book of particular interest.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Region of ASEAN – A history
Chapter 2: Thai Film Context
Chapter 3: 21st Century Genre Films
Chapter 4: Asia in the West: Western representations of Thailand
Chapter 5: Thailand as a Historical site of Cultural Conflict Between East and West
Chapter 6: Thailand in the Arthouse
Chapter 7: Thailand through Thai eyes for a Global Audience

Product details

Published Dec 27 2024
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 240
ISBN 9781666952223
Imprint Lexington Books
Illustrations 14 BW Illustrations
Dimensions 229 x 152 mm
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

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