The first comprehensive scholarly study of Spanish erotic cinema, this book covers a significant part of the history of Spanish film, from the 1920s until the present day. Starting with a study of the kiss in silent films, the volume explores homoerotic narratives in the crusade films of the 1940s, the commodification of bodies in the late Franco period, and the so-called destape (literally ‘undressing’) period that followed the abolition of censorship during the democratic transition.
Reclaiming the importance of Spanish erotic cinema as a genre in itself, a range of international scholars demonstrate how the explicit depiction of sex can be a useful tool to illuminate current and historic social issues including ageism, colonialism, domestic violence, immigration, nationalisms, or women and LGBT rights. Covering a wide range of cinematic genres, including comedy, horror and melodrama, this book provides an innovative and provocative overview of Spanish cinema history and society in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Review
With an ambitious scope and a roughly chronological coverage of a wide range of periods and mostly mainstream film genres (from 1920s Spanish film culture to the feminist cinema and queer male auteurs of the twenty-first century), Spanish Erotic Cinema is a distinctive landmark at the intersection of studies of sexuality and the body in Spanish Film Studies.
-- Belén Vidal, Studies in European Cinema
This collection of essays will clearly constitute a necessary reference for anyone studying Spanish erotic cinema. It should also be of great interest to all Spanish film scholars as it encourages us to look at familiar films, directors and actors in a new light. Moreover, it prompts readers to explore the wide range of what on-screen eroticism can express (discursively, symbolically, visually, aurally) and do (affectively, didactically), in addition to highlighting its crucial importance in the history of Spanish cinema and society.
-- Jesse Barker, Studies in Spanish & Latin American Cinemas
Santiago Fouz-Hernández’s edited collection on Spanish erotic cinema is a timely and ground-breaking contribution to the field of Spanish film studies in particular, and Film Studies in general, through its coverage of the ‘erotic content in Spanish cinema from the silent period until today. -- JULIÁN DANIEL GUTIÉRREZ-ALBILLA, Bulletin of Spanish Visual Studies
Review
Through detailed analyses and a wide diversity of theoretical angles, this book provides a rigorous re-examination of the presence and progression of erotic cinema in Spain, acknowledging and celebrating its political and commercial impact in society. It is likely to become an indispensable reference for the study of Spanish cinema.
-- Isolina Ballesteros, Baruch College and Graduate Center of CUNY
From the Back Cover
‘Through detailed analyses and a wide diversity of theoretical angles, this book provides a rigorous re-examination of the presence and progression of erotic cinema in Spain, acknowledging and celebrating its political and commercial impact in society. It is likely to become an indispensable reference for the study of Spanish cinema.’ Isolina Ballesteros, Baruch College and Graduate Center of CUNY The first comprehensive scholarly study of Spanish erotic cinema, this book covers a significant part of the history of Spanish film, from the 1920s until the present day. Starting with a study of the kiss in silent films, the volume explores many contrasting periods and styles, including the homoerotic ‘crusade films’ of the 1940s, the commodification of bodies in the late Franco period and the so-called destape (literally ‘undressing’) period that followed the abolition of censorship in the 1970s. Reclaiming the importance of Spanish erotic cinema as a genre in itself, a range of international scholars demonstrate how the explicit depiction of sex can be a useful tool to illuminate current and historic social issues including ageism, colonialism, domestic violence, immigration, nationalisms, and women and LGBT rights. Covering a wide range of genres, including comedy, horror and melodrama, this book provides an innovative and provocative overview of Spanish cinema history and society in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Santiago Fouz-Hernández is Reader in Hispanic Studies at Durham University. Cover image: Isabel Pisano in Bilbao (dir. Bigas Luna, 1978). Video Mercury Films, S.A.U., 2013 Cover design: Christian Mieves and Stuart Dalziel [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-0047-3 Barcode
About the Author
Santiago Fouz-Hernández is Professor in Hispanic Studies at Durham University. He is the author of Cuerpos de cine (2013) and, with Alfredo Martínez-Expósito, Live Flesh. The Male Body in Contemporary Spanish Cinema (2007). He is also editor of Mysterious Skin. Male Bodies in Contemporary Cinema (2009), co-editor of two other volumes and editorial board member of Studies in Spanish and Latin American Cinemas. Currently he is preparing a monograph on Spanish filmmaker Bigas Luna.
Description:
The first comprehensive scholarly study of Spanish erotic cinema, this book covers a significant part of the history of Spanish film, from the 1920s until the present day. Starting with a study of the kiss in silent films, the volume explores homoerotic narratives in the crusade films of the 1940s, the commodification of bodies in the late Franco period, and the so-called destape (literally ‘undressing’) period that followed the abolition of censorship during the democratic transition.
Reclaiming the importance of Spanish erotic cinema as a genre in itself, a range of international scholars demonstrate how the explicit depiction of sex can be a useful tool to illuminate current and historic social issues including ageism, colonialism, domestic violence, immigration, nationalisms, or women and LGBT rights. Covering a wide range of cinematic genres, including comedy, horror and melodrama, this book provides an innovative and provocative overview of Spanish cinema history and society in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Review
With an ambitious scope and a roughly chronological coverage of a wide range of periods and mostly mainstream film genres (from 1920s Spanish film culture to the feminist cinema and queer male auteurs of the twenty-first century), Spanish Erotic Cinema is a distinctive landmark at the intersection of studies of sexuality and the body in Spanish Film Studies.
-- Belén Vidal, Studies in European Cinema
This collection of essays will clearly constitute a necessary reference for anyone studying Spanish erotic cinema. It should also be of great interest to all Spanish film scholars as it encourages us to look at familiar films, directors and actors in a new light. Moreover, it prompts readers to explore the wide range of what on-screen eroticism can express (discursively, symbolically, visually, aurally) and do (affectively, didactically), in addition to highlighting its crucial importance in the history of Spanish cinema and society.
-- Jesse Barker, Studies in Spanish & Latin American Cinemas
Santiago Fouz-Hernández’s edited collection on Spanish erotic cinema is a timely and ground-breaking contribution to the field of Spanish film studies in particular, and Film Studies in general, through its coverage of the ‘erotic content in Spanish cinema from the silent period until today. -- JULIÁN DANIEL GUTIÉRREZ-ALBILLA, Bulletin of Spanish Visual Studies
Review
Through detailed analyses and a wide diversity of theoretical angles, this book provides a rigorous re-examination of the presence and progression of erotic cinema in Spain, acknowledging and celebrating its political and commercial impact in society. It is likely to become an indispensable reference for the study of Spanish cinema.
-- Isolina Ballesteros, Baruch College and Graduate Center of CUNY
From the Back Cover
‘Through detailed analyses and a wide diversity of theoretical angles, this book provides a rigorous re-examination of the presence and progression of erotic cinema in Spain, acknowledging and celebrating its political and commercial impact in society. It is likely to become an indispensable reference for the study of Spanish cinema.’ Isolina Ballesteros, Baruch College and Graduate Center of CUNY The first comprehensive scholarly study of Spanish erotic cinema, this book covers a significant part of the history of Spanish film, from the 1920s until the present day. Starting with a study of the kiss in silent films, the volume explores many contrasting periods and styles, including the homoerotic ‘crusade films’ of the 1940s, the commodification of bodies in the late Franco period and the so-called destape (literally ‘undressing’) period that followed the abolition of censorship in the 1970s. Reclaiming the importance of Spanish erotic cinema as a genre in itself, a range of international scholars demonstrate how the explicit depiction of sex can be a useful tool to illuminate current and historic social issues including ageism, colonialism, domestic violence, immigration, nationalisms, and women and LGBT rights. Covering a wide range of genres, including comedy, horror and melodrama, this book provides an innovative and provocative overview of Spanish cinema history and society in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Santiago Fouz-Hernández is Reader in Hispanic Studies at Durham University. Cover image: Isabel Pisano in Bilbao (dir. Bigas Luna, 1978). Video Mercury Films, S.A.U., 2013 Cover design: Christian Mieves and Stuart Dalziel [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-0047-3 Barcode
About the Author
Santiago Fouz-Hernández is Professor in Hispanic Studies at Durham University. He is the author of Cuerpos de cine (2013) and, with Alfredo Martínez-Expósito, Live Flesh. The Male Body in Contemporary Spanish Cinema (2007). He is also editor of Mysterious Skin. Male Bodies in Contemporary Cinema (2009), co-editor of two other volumes and editorial board member of Studies in Spanish and Latin American Cinemas. Currently he is preparing a monograph on Spanish filmmaker Bigas Luna.