Gendering Globalized Flows in Bertrand Bonello’s Tiresia

  • Christina Dokou The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Keywords: Teiresias, Tiresia, Bertrand Bonello, gender, immigration, transsexuality, androgyny, globalization, film, Greek myth, performativity

Abstract

Presented as the conciliatory voice of wisdom, Teiresias, the blind Theban seer who had been both man and woman, exemplifies how transcending gender can lead to a questioning of normative, victimizing cultural mandates within the polis. This gender-bending acquires further applications in Bertrand Bonello’s 2003 film, Tiresia, about the myth-informed travails of a transsexual Brazilian illegal immigrant prostitute in France. The film daringly deconstructs the dividing lines within contemporary globalized flows: immigrants vs. citizens, men vs. women, dogma vs. humanity. The performative gender of “Tiresia” exposes but also exacerbates the effects of cultural violence, yet also intimates peaceful alternatives.

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Author Biography

Christina Dokou, The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Assistant Professor of American Literature and Culture
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Published
2017-09-15
How to Cite
Dokou C. (2017). Gendering Globalized Flows in Bertrand Bonello’s Tiresia. Amaltea. Revista de mitocrítica, 9, 15-23. https://doi.org/10.5209/AMAL.54283
Section
Articles | Thematic Issue