Looking for the other

by E. Ann Kaplan

In her new book, E. Ann Kaplan explores the racialized gaze: What exactly happens when whites look at non-whites? What happens when the look is returned - when "others" startle whites into knowledge of their whiteness? Looking for the Other employs Hollywood films about colonial or exotic travel, and those by women filmmakers of color, to address such questions. A secondary, linked theme of her book is the concept of "nation", with special focus on women's ethnic and transnational identities as imaged on film.