BORDER EPISTEMOLOGIES: LOOKING AT ALMODOVAR'S QUEER GENDERS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR VISUAL CULTURE EDUCATION By BELIDSON D. BEZERRA JR A., Universidade de Brasilia, Brazil, 1989 M.A., Manchester Metropolitan University, U.K., 1992 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES. (Curriculum Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April 2006 ©Belidson D. Bezerra Jr, 2006Library and Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch 395 Wellington Street ‘Otiawa ONKTA ONE Canada Ottawa ONKi Canada NOTICE The author has granted a non- exclusive license allowing Library and Archives Canada to reproduce, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, communicate to the public by telecommunication or on the Internet, loan, distribute and sell theses worldwide, for commercial or non- commercial purposes, in microform, paper, electronic and/or any other formats, The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission Bibliothaque et Archives Canada Patrimoine de lécition 396, rue Wellington ‘ON Your fle Votre référence SBN: 978-0-494-30315-3 Our fle Note référence ISBN: 978-0-494-20815-2 AVIS: Lauteur a accordé une licence non exclusive permettant a la Biblioth&que et Archives Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public par télécommunication ou par l'internet, préter, distribuer et vendre des théses partout dans le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, ‘sur support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou autres formats. L’auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur et des droits moraux qui protége cette these, Nila thase ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci ne doivent étre imprimés ou autrement reproduits sans son autorisation. In compliance with the Canadian Privacy Act some supporting forms may have been removed from this thesis. While these forms may be included in the document page count, their removal does not represent any loss of content from the thesis Canada Conformément a la loi canadienne sur la protection de la vie privée, quelques formulaires secondaires ont 6té enlevés de cette thése. Bien que ces formulaires alent inclus dans la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant.Abstract The everyday practices of contemporary art education from grades K-12 are marked by the neglect of the cultural experience of film and the disregard for issues of gender as well as the concealment of issues of sexuality. So it is in the confluence of visual culture, queer theory, art education and film studies that I posit my inquiry. I explore theoretical frameworks for understanding how we look at queer representations of gender and sexuality in visual culture, particularly focusing on Pedro Almod6var’s filmography and its impact for the teaching and learning of visual culture in higher education and in secondary schools. The organizing questions are: How do Pedro Almodévar's film representations of queer sexuality and gender inform contemporary art education theory and practice? In what ways is the utilization of border epistemologies relevant for understanding representations of genders and sexualities in Almod6var's films? How does it inform art education practices? Also, this study fills a gap in the emerging critical literature in art education because, as a study focusing on queer visual representation and border epistemologies, it will consider intersections among these specific sites of knowledge, and such studies are rare in the field. 1 adopt a/t/tography and queer theory as my major frameworks because they allow for a transdisciplinary flow of spaces and places in which to engage in dialogue with ‘numerous areas, disciplines and fields of study. The thesis suggests that queer discourses can assist visual culture education to embrace the study of visual representation of social issues - specifically gender and sexuality - as an instrument of critical pedagogy. Further, these discourses confuse and provoke entrenched notions about art, representation, and common, sense by continually changing concepts of gender and sexuality, thus encouraging