Phenomenology of In-betweenness: The Shimmering Images in Jane Schoenbrun’s Films

Authors

  • Jelena Mišeljić Faculty of Dramatic Arts, University of Montenegro, Cetinje, Montenegro

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25038/am.v0i28.643

Keywords:

trans cinema; phenomenology of cinema; shimmering image; Jane Schoenbrun; in-betweenness.

Abstract

This paper explores the intersection of phenomenology and trans cinema through Jane Schoenbrun’s films, arguing that they evoke the lived, sensory experience of in-betweenness and liminality. Drawing on theories by Sara Ahmed, Vivian Sobchack, Laura U. Marks, and Eliza Steinbock, I contend that Schoenbrun’s cinema privileges affective resonance, haptic visuality, and temporal ambiguity over narrative resolution. Through digital textures, tactile imagery, and fragmented timelines, these films invite viewers to inhabit uncertainty and somatic disquiet as ongoing, shimmering events. Such cinematic approaches offer resistance by sensitizing audiences to new understandings of embodiment and identity in an era of contested bodily autonomy.

Author Biography

Jelena Mišeljić, Faculty of Dramatic Arts, University of Montenegro, Cetinje, Montenegro

Jelena Mišeljić is a film producer and a scholar. She completed her undergraduate and master’s studies in Production at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, where she is currently engaged as a lecturer in film history and theory. She earned her doctorate in Transdisciplinary Studies of Contemporary Art and Media at the Faculty of Media and Communications in Belgrade. As a producer, she has worked on several internationally awarded films. Her research is based on experimental cinema and contemporary film and media practice and published in international journals and volumes.

References

Ahmed, Sara. Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others. Duke University Press, 2006. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822388074

Bell-Metereau, Rebecca. Transgender Cinema. Rutgers University Press, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.36019/9780813597379

Ford, Akkadia. Trans New Wave Cinema. Routledge, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003099048

Marks, Laura U. The Skin of the Film: Intercultural Cinema, Embodiment, and the Senses. Duke University Press, 2000. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822381372

Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. Phenomenology of Perception. Translated by Donald A. Landes. Routledge, 2002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203994610

Seidlitz, Holden. „Jane Schoenbrun Finds Horror Close to Home“, The New Yorker, June 10, 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/jane-schoenbrun-finds-horror-close-to-home.

Sobchack, Vivian. The Address of the Eye: A Phenomenology of Film Experience. Princeton University Press, 1992. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691213279

Steinbock, Eliza. Shimmering Images: Trans Cinema, Embodiment, and the Aesthetics of Change. Duke University Press, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478004509

“The Matrix Is a ‘Trans Metaphor’, Lilly Wachowski says.” BBC, August 7, 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-53692435.

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Published

15.10.2025

How to Cite

Mišeljić, J. (2025). Phenomenology of In-betweenness: The Shimmering Images in Jane Schoenbrun’s Films. AM Journal of Art and Media Studies, (38). https://doi.org/10.25038/am.v0i28.643

Issue

No. 38 (2025): Issue No. 38, October 2025 – Main Topic: Bodily Autonomy and Identity Politics: Feminist Approaches in the Era of Global Political Changes

Section

MAIN TOPIC: Bodily Autonomy and Identity Politics: Feminist Approaches in the Era of Global Political Changes

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AM Journal of Art and Media Studies ISSN 2217-9666 - printed, ISSN 2406-1654 - online, UDK 7.01:316.774

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Publisher: Faculty of Media and Communications, Singidunum University, Belgrade, Serbia

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