Acoustic Mirror : The Female Voice in Psychoanalysis and Cinema
ISBN: 9780253204745
Publication Date: 22 April 1988
" . . . a vitally new understanding that takes us from the terms of the representation of sexual difference to an anatomy of female subjectivity which will be widely influential." --Stephen Heath
"An original work likely to have significant impact on all those with an interest in the vibrant intersection of feminism, film theory, and psychoanalysis . . . " --Naomi Schor
" . . . powerfully argued study . . . impressive . . . " --Choice
" . . . important because of its innovative work on Hollywood's ideologically-charged construction of subjectivity. . . . what is exciting about The Acoustic Mirror is that it inspires one to reevaluate a number of now classical theoretical texts, and to see films with an eye to how authorship is constructed and subjectivity is generated." --Literature and Psychology
"As evocative as it is shrewdly systematic, the pioneering theory of female subjectivity formulated in the final three chapters will have wide impact as a major contribution to feminist theory." --SubStance
The Acoustic Mirror attempts to do for the sound-track what feminist film theory of the past decade has done for the image-track--to locate the points at which it is productive of sexual difference. The specific focus is the female voice understood not merely as spoken dialogue, narration, and commentary, but as a fantasmatic projection, and as a metaphor for authorship.