Bodies at War, Gendered Representations of Violence in Colombian Contemporary Film

• In Event: Strategic Embodiments, Resisting Intersectional Violence in Latin America

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between the female body and violence in three recent Colombian films: Alias María (Rugeles 2015), La sirga (Vega 2012), and Chocó (Hendrix 2012). Despite their differences, they all rely on the embodied experiences of women facing intersectional oppression as the main conduit through which historical violence is actualized. I unpack how the visualization practices used either reinforce nationalistic patriarchal fantasies about the nation as a feminized space in need of saving, or highlight the symbolic violence of such fantasies, carving out spaces of female resistance and agency even in the most violent circumstances.

Presenter

• Juliana Martinez, American University