Orlando and the cinematic rewriting of gender

Abstract

Jorge Luis Borges, the author, said we rewrite literary works rather than simply align  ourselves to certain literary forefathers that would shape new texts. Inspired by this statement that denies the mere direct influence, we think of the postmodern film version as another rewriting locus, marked by elements such as irony, performary and exaggerated character in the scenery and costumes of the characters. Such characteristics of film production collaborate to the questioning of gender relations, gender and bodies in Orlando, Sally Potter’s film (1992), which is inspired by  Virginia Woolf´s book, Orlando - a biography (1928). This article aims to scrutinize additions to the literary text and elements of postmodernity triggered by Potter’s production, reconfiguring the original narrative and merging a new text. The theoretical discussion will be articulated with bodies of works about postmodernity such as Frederic Jameson (1984), Jean-François Lyotard (1993) and Andreas Huyssen (2010), the genre as a power technology Teresa Lauretis (1994) and as performative construction according to Judith Butler (2010);  in addition, there will be reflections on representation and film by Robert Stam and Ella Shohat. We hope to eventually contribute to the analysis of a case of  convergence between Feminism and Postmodernism.