Maria DiFrancesco | Ithaca College (original) (raw)
Phone: 607-274-3547
Address: Ithaca College
Modern Languages and Literatures
953 Danby Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
less
Uploads
Papers by Maria DiFrancesco
Spanish Graphic Narratives, 2020
While news reporters and academic scholars alike have often linked the specter of immigration in ... more While news reporters and academic scholars alike have often linked the specter of immigration in Spain to a history of Muslim conquest and Christian reconquest, very little scholarship seems to connect Spain's ability-or inability-to grapple with the "ghost" of contemporary immigration to a pattern and history of emigration. This analysis of the award-winning film Biutiful (2010), by Mexican director, cowriter, and producer Alejandro González Iñárritu (1963-present), aspires to do precisely this: to examine divergent ghosts, to consider how they dialogue with each other, and to see what an analysis of these specters might indicate to us about Spain's relationship to migrants and migration in the present day.
Journal of Lesbian Studies, 2009
Film critics and scholars alike have accepted Pedro Almodovar&#39... more Film critics and scholars alike have accepted Pedro Almodovar's Pepi, Luci, Bom, and Dark Habits as highlighting the erotic fixations of a subculture that would have remained silent under Franco. Nonetheless, I see these films as important for their ability to shed light on the Spanish contemporary family. The power dynamics that evolve between female characters in these films illustrate how same-sex couples come together, expand, and re-create alternative family configurations in Spain. I make the case that although these alternative families may not prove to be any less functional than traditional patriarchal families, through them Almodovar compels viewers to reassess the purpose and crucial role that the family plays within Spanish society.
Spanish Graphic Narratives, 2020
While news reporters and academic scholars alike have often linked the specter of immigration in ... more While news reporters and academic scholars alike have often linked the specter of immigration in Spain to a history of Muslim conquest and Christian reconquest, very little scholarship seems to connect Spain's ability-or inability-to grapple with the "ghost" of contemporary immigration to a pattern and history of emigration. This analysis of the award-winning film Biutiful (2010), by Mexican director, cowriter, and producer Alejandro González Iñárritu (1963-present), aspires to do precisely this: to examine divergent ghosts, to consider how they dialogue with each other, and to see what an analysis of these specters might indicate to us about Spain's relationship to migrants and migration in the present day.
Journal of Lesbian Studies, 2009
Film critics and scholars alike have accepted Pedro Almodovar&#39... more Film critics and scholars alike have accepted Pedro Almodovar's Pepi, Luci, Bom, and Dark Habits as highlighting the erotic fixations of a subculture that would have remained silent under Franco. Nonetheless, I see these films as important for their ability to shed light on the Spanish contemporary family. The power dynamics that evolve between female characters in these films illustrate how same-sex couples come together, expand, and re-create alternative family configurations in Spain. I make the case that although these alternative families may not prove to be any less functional than traditional patriarchal families, through them Almodovar compels viewers to reassess the purpose and crucial role that the family plays within Spanish society.