2nd Edition

The Matter of Images Essays on Representations

By Richard Dyer Copyright 2002
    192 Pages
    by Routledge

    192 Pages
    by Routledge

    Now published in a revised second edition, The Matter of Images searches through the resonances of the term ‘representation’, analysing images in terms of why they matter, what they are made of, and the material realities they refer to. Richard Dyer’s analyses consider representations of ‘out’ groups and traditionally dominant groups alike, and encompass the eclectic texts of contemporary culture, from queers to straights, political correctness, representations of Empire and films including Gilda, Papillon and The Night of the Living Dead. Essays new to the second edition discuss Lillian Gish as the ultimate white movie star, the representation of whiteness in the South in Birth of a Nation, and society’s fascination with serial killers.

    The Matter of Images is distinctive in its commitment to writing politically about contemporary culture, while insisting on the importance of understanding the formal qualities and complexity of the images it investigates.

    Chapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 In a word; Chapter 3 The role of stereotypes; Chapter 4 Seen to be believed: some problems in the representation of gay people as typical; Chapter 5 Homosexuality and film noir; Chapter 6 Victim: hegemonic project; Chapter 7 Male sexuality in the media; Chapter 8 Brief affairs; Chapter 9 Papillon; Chapter 10 Three questions about serial killing; Chapter 11 Straight acting; Chapter 12 A Passage to India; Chapter 13 White; Chapter 14 Lillian Gish: a white star; Chapter 15 Into the light: the whiteness of the South in The Birth of a Nation;

    Biography

    Richard Dyer