<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Starting from the premise that intra-EU migration has generated a repertoire of representations, narratives and stances in Romanian public imagination, within a transnational context, the present article explores an area that has attracted little scholarly attention to date: Romanian New Cinema films that tackle this theme. The analysis focuses on “Francescaˮ (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="j_genst-2020-0008_ref_021_w2aab3b7b7b1b6b1ab1ac21Aa">Bobby Păunescu, 2009</xref>), a film centred on a female character who is on the verge of deciding whether to emigrate or not. It examines how female identity and agency are shaped in connection to symbolic constructions of the “West” as a destination space for Romanian migrants, through modalities of expression specific to the New Romanian Cinema.</p></abstract>

Starting from the premise that intra-EU migration has generated a repertoire of representations, narratives and stances in Romanian public imagination, within a transnational context, the present article explores an area that has attracted little scholarly attention to date: Romanian New Cinema films that tackle this theme. The analysis focuses on “Francescaˮ (Bobby Păunescu, 2009), a film centred on a female character who is on the verge of deciding whether to emigrate or not. It examines how female identity and agency are shaped in connection to symbolic constructions of the “West” as a destination space for Romanian migrants, through modalities of expression specific to the New Romanian Cinema.

“Should I Stay or Should I Go?” The Promise of Europe and Female Identity in <italic>Francesca</italic> (2009)

Gender Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

“Should I Stay or Should I Go?” The Promise of Europe and Female Identity in  (2009)

Starting from the premise that intra-EU migration has generated a repertoire of representations, narratives and stances in Romanian public imagination, within...

“Should I Stay or Should I Go?” The Promise of Europe and Female Identity in Francesca (2009)

Published Online: Feb 01, 2020

Page range: 96 - 112

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/genst-2020-0008

Keywords
intra-EU migration, New Romanian Cinema, Romanian migration to Italy, symbolic construction, women migrants

© 2020 Adina Baya et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

“Should I Stay or Should I Go?” The Promise of Europe and Female Identity in Francesca (2009)

Published Online: Feb 01, 2020

Page range: 96 - 112

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/genst-2020-0008

Keywordsintra-EU migration, New Romanian Cinema, Romanian migration to Italy, symbolic construction, women migrants

© 2020 Adina Baya et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
intra-EU migration, New Romanian Cinema, Romanian migration to Italy, symbolic construction, women migrants