University of East Anglia

Graduate Student, School of Film and Television Studies

Thesis Title: Eastern Horizons: Frank Capra's Construction of American Identity, 1922-1961

About

My current research seeks to combine auteur studies and cultural analysis in an examination of Frank Capra’s construction of American identity. I argue that while Capra’s films have been traditionally perceived as exclusively focused on American themes and ideology, the American heartland’s relationship to an Oriental “other” is central to Capra’s fascination with how national community was constructed, how it functioned, and how it was maintained. Topics covered include: representations of Asian/Americans in “American Madness” and “Arsenic and Old Lace,” Orientalism and "The Bitter Tea of General Yen," American imperialism and "Lost Horizon," ideologies of individualism and the World War II orientation films (particularly "The Battle of China" and "Know Your Enemy: Japan"), South Seas exoticism in "It's a Wonderful Life" and "A Hole in the Head," and shifts in what Capra's America has meant over time -- both to Capra and to those who have studied Capra.

I am funded by the Humanities Scholarship from the University of East Anglia and the American Scholarship from the Memorial Trust of the 2nd Air Division USAAF. In conjunction with the latter, I work part-time at the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library in Norwich, coordinating outreach events and engagement opportunities from lectures to children’s activities to book groups to blogging. For more information see: http://www.2ndair.org.uk/

My broader research interests include: national identity, auteur studies, film history, and national cinemas.