The feminist uncanny in theory and art practice

Authored Book

Kokoli, A. 2016. The feminist uncanny in theory and art practice. London Bloomsbury Publishing.
TypeAuthored Book
TitleThe feminist uncanny in theory and art practice
AuthorsKokoli, A.
Abstract

The Feminist Uncanny in Theory and Art Practice investigates the widely debated, deeply flawed yet influential concept of the uncanny through the lens of feminist theory and contemporary art practice. Not merely a subversive strategy but a cipher of the fraught but fertile dialogue between feminism and psychoanalysis, the uncanny makes an ideal vehicle for an arrangement marked by ambivalence and acts as a constant reminder that feminism and psychoanalysis are never quite at home with one another.

The Feminist Uncanny begins by charting the uncanniness of femininity in foundational psychoanalytic texts by Ernst Jentsch, Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan and Mladen Dolar, and contextually introduces a range of feminist responses and appropriations by Hélène Cixous, Julia Kristeva and Sarah Kofman, among others. The book also offers thematically organised interpretations of famous artworks and practices informed by feminism, including Judy Chicago's Dinner Party, Faith Ringgold's story quilts and Susan Hiller's 'paraconceptualism', as well as less well-known practice, such as the Women's Postal Art Even (Feministo) and the photomontages of Maud Sulter. Dead (lexicalised) metaphors, unhomely domesticity, identity and (dis)identification, and the tension between family stories and art's histories are examined in and from the perspective of different artistic and critical practices, illustrating different aspects of the feminist uncanny.

Through a 'partisan' yet comprehensive critical review of the fascinating concept of the uncanny, The Feminist Uncanny in Theory and Art Practice proposes a new concept, the feminist uncanny, which it upholds as one of the most enduring legacies of the Women's Liberation Movement in contemporary art theory and practice.

Research GroupCREATE/Feminisms cluster
SeriesBloomsbury Studies in Philosophy
ISBN
Hardcover9781472511393
Paperback9781350060784
Electronic9781472514028
Electronic9781472505583
Electronic9781474219082
PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
Place of publicationLondon
Publication dates
Print11 Aug 2016
Online28 Oct 2016
Publication process dates
Deposited19 May 2016
Accepted13 Apr 2016
Output statusPublished
Accepted author manuscript
Accepted author manuscript
Copyright Statement

The full text are non-final versions of the book sections and are not to be cited. The final print version published by Bloomsbury Academic is available via https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-feminist-uncanny-in-theory-and-art...

Additional information

Hardback published: 11-08-2016
Paperback published: 30-11-2017

Web address (URL)https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-feminist-uncanny-in-theory-and-art-practice-9781472511393/
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.5040/9781474219082
LanguageEnglish
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