This master's thesis explores the construction of the female gaze, which emerges as a possible alternative to the still-dominant male gaze in Hollywood cinema. The theoretical section traces the conceptualization of the gaze from phenomenology and existentialism to visual arts and film theory, with a particular focus on the development of the concepts of the male and female gaze, as well as their critiques and alternatives. The concept of the male gaze as theorized by Laura Mulvey, along with attempts to define the female gaze in the works of Theresa de Lauretis, Lisa French, Joey Soloway, and Josephine Donovan, serves as a starting point for identifying the female gaze in film. The empirical part of the thesis applies the discussed theoretical frameworks to feature films by director and screenwriter Céline Sciamma, with the aim of uncovering methods of subverting the male gaze, establishing a female gaze, and identifying its constitutive elements. This study finds that Céline Sciamma’s feature films consistently reject the cinematic language and narrative structures described by theorists as characteristic of the male gaze. Instead, Sciamma constructs specific representations of female subjectivities and experiences, supported by cinematic techniques that focus on conveying feelings and the internal states of her characters.
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