# Unhomed: Cycles of Mobility and Placelessness in American Cinema - Hardcover

by **Pamela Robertson Wojcik** (Author)

In this rich cultural history, Pamela Roberston Wojcik examines America's ambivalent and shifting attitude toward homelessness. She considers film cycles from five distinct historical moments that show characters who are unhomed and placeless, mobile rather than fixed--characters who fail, resist, or opt out of the mandate for a home of one's own. From the tramp films of the silent era to the 2021 Oscar-winning _Nomadland_, Wojcik reveals a tension in the American imaginary between viewing homelessness as deviant and threatening or emblematic of freedom and independence. Blending social history with insights drawn from a complex array of films, both canonical and fringe, Wojcik effectively "unhomes" dominant narratives that cast aspirations for success and social mobility as the focus of American cinema, reminding us that genres of precarity have been central to American cinema (and the American story) all along.

### Back Jacket

My admiration for this book is immense. Impeccably researched and written with compelling clarity and wit, _Unhomed_ has much to teach us about film's participation in modern American life.--Dana Polan, author of _Dreams of Flight: "__The Great Escape"_ _in American Film and Culture_  
"Pamela Wojcik provides a fascinating look at recurring portrayals of uprooted, unhoused, and transient figures in American cinema, including silent-era tramps, World War II combat veterans, hitchhiking dames, Reagan-era street people, and the precariat. In doing so, she unearths contradictory longings for both home and mobility, fixity and freedom at the heart of American culture."--Shelley Stamp, author of _Lois Weber in Early Hollywood_

### Author Biography

**Pamela Robertson Wojcik** is Professor of Film, Television, and Theatre and Concurrent in Gender Studies and American Studies at the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of several works of film and cultural studies, including _Fantasies of Neglect: Imagining the Urban Child in American Film and Fiction_ and _The Apartment Plot: Urban Living in American Film and Popular Culture, 1945 to 1975_.

**Number of Pages:** 296

**Dimensions:** 0.81 x 9 x 6 IN

**Publication Date:** April 09, 2024

## Details

- **Price:** 153.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 153.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Unhomed: Cycles of Mobility and Placelessness in American Cinema - Hardcover

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