A gender analysis of Claude Cahun’s self-portraits
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2016-01-25
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en
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Abstract
During my cultural studies education I developed an interest for gender studies as well as Surrealism. When I came across the work of Claude Cahun, it quickly became clear that her self-portraits would become my object of study for this BA thesis, as they combine both the subject of gender and the Surrealist movement. The gender courses I have followed as well as my background in art history make it possible to fruitfully analyze Cahun’s photographic works. The course about the culture of fashion provided me with “new materialism” as an approach to Cahun’s oeuvre.This BA thesis discusses different photographs by Surrealist artist Claude Cahun (1894 – 1954) from a feminist perspective: Autoportrait (1927), Que me veux-tu? Autoportrait double (1928)
and Photomontage, Plate 1, Aveux non avenus (1919 -1929). Cahun’s oeuvre has often been analyzed in terms of gender performativity, a concept introduced by Judith Butler. In order to complement an interpretation based on Judith Butler’s gender performativity, I emphasize the materiality of the body as a means to deconstruct gender with theories by Rosi Braidotti’s feminist materialism. The first chapter gives a short overview of both Claude Cahun’s (artistic) life and the Surrealist movement. In chapter two I lay out the theoretical framework that will base my analysis of the three photographs. The last chapter consists of an analysis of Cahun’s photographs in terms of both gender performativity and new materialism. The conclusion provides a comparison of the photographic works as well as a reflection on the used theories.
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Faculteit der Letteren