From the Culture of Matter to the Matter of Culture: Feminist                     Explorations of Nature and Science

‘The body’ has come to represent a key signifier both within, and beyond, cultural studies. Analyzing and challenging the underlying cultural assumptions of scientific discourses of nature have keenly involved feminist theory in the project of uncovering the culture of matter. The aim of this paper is to review the important insights feminists have brought to bear on the cultural constructions of materiality. I then go on to suggest that considering the matter of culture might be both interesting and useful for feminist theory, especially in opening up new sites of analysis of sexual difference. I explore four areas of materiality that might assist feminist analyses in this area: paradigm shifts, boundaries, technology and the evolution of sexual difference.

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Re-touched

Fashion Style & Popular Culture ◽

10.1386/fspc_00079_1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (2-3) ◽

pp. 205-210

Author(s):

Sarah Eyre ◽

Xanthe Hutchinson

Keyword(s):

Feminist Theory ◽

Female Body ◽

The Body ◽

Power Structures ◽

Collaborative Project ◽

The Gaze ◽

Female Nude ◽

Opening Up

Re-touched is a collaborative project by collage artist Sarah Eyre and fashion photographer Xanthe Hutchinson. Both artists share an interest in the female body, particularly the notion of pleasure in display and gaze between women and the body. The body of work that forms Re-touched combines photographic and collage methods in order to embody a sense of sensuality through the opening up and enfolding of the female form, on set and through the process of collage. The artists position their work within a framework of feminist theory that questions the binary thinking around the gaze. They draw on the writing of Laura U. Marks to bring a haptic quality to their photographic and collage interventions to the image, and in inviting the viewer to be touched by their images. Through this series of photographic collages, they have established a visual and tactile approach that utilizes the body, is collaborative and re-figures the power structures between model, photographer and viewer. Their images offer a way of rethinking and reshaping representations of the female nude.

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Derrida on Pornography: Putting (It) Up for Sale

Derrida Today ◽

10.3366/drt.2013.0054 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 97-114 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Christopher Morris

Keyword(s):

Cultural Studies ◽

English Translation ◽

The Body ◽

The Past ◽

French Original ◽

Definition Of ◽

Critical Discourses ◽

Academic Debate

Over the past thirty years, academic debate over pornography in the discourses of feminism and cultural studies has foundered on questions of the performative and of the word's definition. In the polylogue of Droit de regards, pornography is defined as la mise en vente that is taking place in the act of exegesis in progress. (Wills's idiomatic English translation includes an ‘it’ that is absent in the French original). The definition in Droit de regards alludes to the word's etymology (writing by or about prostitutes) but leaves the referent of the ‘sale’ suspended. Pornography as la mise en vente boldly restates the necessary iterability of the sign and anticipates two of Derrida's late arguments: that there is no ‘the’ body and that performatives may be powerless. Deriving a definition of pornography from a truncated etymology exemplifies the prosthesis of origin and challenges other critical discourses to explain how pornography can be understood as anything more than ‘putting (it) up for sale’.

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Diaghilev and British Writing

Dance Research ◽

10.3366/e0264287509000255 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 65-92

Author(s):

Susan Jones

Keyword(s):

Visual Arts ◽

The Body ◽

The Novel ◽

Literary Responses ◽

Literary Aesthetics ◽

Ballets Russes ◽

The Arts ◽

The Subject ◽

And Gender ◽

Opening Up

This article explores the diversity of British literary responses to Diaghilev's project, emphasising the way in which the subject matter and methodologies of Diaghilev's modernism were sometimes unexpectedly echoed in expressions of contemporary British writing. These discussions emerge both in writing about Diaghilev's work, and, more discretely, when references to the Russian Ballet find their way into the creative writing of the period, serving to anchor the texts in a particular cultural milieu or to suggest contemporary aesthetic problems in the domain of literary aesthetics developing in the period. Figures from disparate fields, including literature, music and the visual arts, brought to their criticism of the Ballets Russes their individual perspectives on its aesthetics, helping to consolidate the sense of its importance in contributing to the inter-disciplinary flavour of modernism across the arts. In the field of literature, not only did British writers evaluate the Ballets Russes in terms of their own poetics, their relationship to experimentation in the novel and in drama, they developed an increasing sense of the company's place in dance history, its choreographic innovations offering material for wider discussions, opening up the potential for literary modernism's interest in impersonality and in the ‘unsayable’, discussions of the body, primitivism and gender.

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‘The body says it’: the difficulty of measuring and communicating sensations of breathlessness

Medical Humanities ◽

10.1136/medhum-2019-011816 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. medhum-2019-011816

Author(s):

Alice Malpass ◽

Coreen Mcguire ◽

Jane Macnaughton

Keyword(s):

Clinical Research ◽

Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽

Chronic Respiratory Disease ◽

The Body ◽

Clinical Expertise ◽

Cultural Assumptions ◽

Sensory Qualities ◽

Bodily Sensations ◽

Object Of Study ◽

The Uk

Breathlessness is a sensation affecting those living with chronic respiratory disease, obesity, heart disease and anxiety disorders. The Multidimensional Dyspnoea Profile is a respiratory questionnaire which attempts to measure the incommunicable different sensory qualities (and emotional responses) of breathlessness. Drawing on sensorial anthropology we take as our object of study the process of turning sensations into symptoms. We consider how shared cultural templates of ‘what counts as a symptom’ evolve, mediate and feed into the process of bodily sensations becoming a symptom. Our contribution to the field of sensorial anthropology, as an interdisciplinary collaboration between history, anthropology and the medical humanities, is to provide a critique of how biomedicine and cultures of clinical research have measured the multidimensional sensorial aspects of breathlessness. Using cognitive interviews of respiratory questionnaires with participants from the Breathe Easy groups in the UK, we give examples of how the wording used to describe sensations is often at odds with the language those living with breathlessness understand or use. They struggle to comprehend and map their bodily experience of sensations associated with breathlessness to the words on the respiratory questionnaire. We reflect on the alignment between cognitive interviewing as a method and anthropology as a disciplinary approach. We argue biomedicine brings with it a set of cultural assumptions about what it means to measure (and know) the sensorial breathless body in the context of the respiratory clinic (clinical research). We suggest the mismatch between the descriptions (and confusion) of those responding to the respiratory questionnaire items and those selecting the vocabularies in designing it may be symptomatic of a type of historical testimonial epistemic injustice, founded on the prioritisation of clinical expertise over expertise by experience.

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Feminist Theory

The Oxford Handbook of Virginia Woolf ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198811589.013.32 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 488-503

Author(s):

Jean Mills

Keyword(s):

Feminist Theory ◽

Political Thought ◽

Life Writing ◽

The Body ◽

Feminist Politics ◽

Feminist Thought ◽

Feminist Discourse ◽

Women's Lives ◽

Feminist Community ◽

Critical Responses

This chapter examines Virginia Woolf’s foundational role in the development of feminist theory, placing her theoretical positions on women’s lives and life-writing, privacy, the body, and self-expression in dialogue with a diverse and actively changing continuum of feminist thought. Focusing on the return of rage to the forefront of feminist discourse and social media’s effect upon feminist politics, the chapter chronicles the changing critical responses to Woolf’s feminisms, in relation to her positions on feminist identities and feminist community. The chapter also investigates the ways in which women of colour feminists disclosed Woolf’s racialized self and racist thinking to assess the place of Woolf’s feminism in contemporary political thought. From issues seeking to reconcile and value difference and diversity with the uses of ambivalence and calls for unity and integration, the chapter places the concepts and vocabulary of feminist theory within the context of Virginia Woolf’s work and example.

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Experiencing Event Management During the Coronavirus Pandemic: A Public Sector Perspective

Frontiers in Sports and Active Living ◽

10.3389/fspor.2021.814146 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Author(s):

Tim Coles ◽

Giselle Garcia ◽

Evelyn O'Malley ◽

Cathy Turner

Keyword(s):

Public Sector ◽

Local Authority ◽

The Body ◽

Event Management ◽

Local Authorities ◽

Key Stakeholders ◽

The World ◽

Local Recovery ◽

The Uk ◽

Opening Up

Events have played a significant role in the way in which the Coronavirus pandemic has been experienced and known around the world. Little is known though about how the pandemic has impacted on supporting, managing and governing events in municipal (i.e., local) authorities as key stakeholders, nor how events have featured in the opening-up of localities. This paper reports on empirical research with senior events officers for local authorities in the UK on these key knowledge gaps. Specifically, it examines events officers' unfolding experiences of the pandemic. The paper points to unpreparedness for a crisis of this scale and magnitude, and the roles of innovation, adaptation and co-production in the emergent response. It highlights the transformative nature of the pandemic through reconsiderations of the purpose of public sector involvement in events and, from a policy perspective, how relatively smaller-scale, more agile and lower-risk arts events and performances can figure in local recovery. Finally, while the effects on, and response of, the body corporate (the local authority) to crises is an obvious focus, it is important to recognise those of the individuals who manage the response and drive change.

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Cuerpo indeterminado: La precariedad del cuerpo en el discurso feminista

Revista de la Academia ◽

10.25074/0196318.0.47 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 20 ◽

pp. 47

Author(s):

María Isabel Peña Aguado

Keyword(s):

Feminist Theory ◽

Queer Theory ◽

Female Body ◽

The Body ◽

Philosophical Tradition ◽

Font Size ◽

Feminist Discourse ◽

Feminist Movements ◽

Cuerpo Femenino

La teoría feminista heredó de una tradición filosófica hostil la identificación de cuerpo y mujer. Partiendo de esta identificación de mujer y cuerpo es comprensible que un cuestionamiento del concepto ‘mujer’ influya asimismo en el lugar que va a encontrar el cuerpo dentro del movimiento y teoría feministas. Ese lugar será diferente dependiendo de las diversas reivindicaciones que marcan las diferencias entre los distintos feminismos y teorías queer. La pregunta que se plantea es hasta qué punto la precariedad del cuerpo femenino dentro de la misma teoría feminista es consecuencia del cuestionamiento del concepto de mujer o si, por el contrario, no será más bien el rechazo a una realidad corporal concreta lo que ha permitido y ayudado a desarmar los conceptos de ‘mujer’ y ‘mujeres’ hasta el punto de considerarlos como innecesario para el mismo discurso y políticas feministas contemporáneos.Palabras claves: cuerpo, mujeres, feminismo, Teoría Queer Indeterminacy of the body: precariousness of body in the feminist discourseFeminist theory inherited the identification of woman and body from a hostile philosophical tradition. Given this identification, it is understandable that a questioning of the concept ‚woman‘ also influences the place that the body will find in the feminist movements and theories. The question that arises is how far the precariousness of the female body within feminist theory itself is the result of a questioning of the concept of ‘woman’ or whether, on the contrary, it is the rejection of a concrete corporal reality which has enabled and helped to disarm the concepts of ‚woman‘ and ‚women‘ to the point of considering them unnecessary for contemporary feminist discourse and politics. Keywords: body, women, feminism, Queer Theory

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CULTURE-BASED STUDIES’ TOPOGRAPHY IN THE MODERN FRENCH SOCIAL SCIENCE

UKRAINIAN CULTURAL STUDIES ◽

10.17721/ucs.2019.1(4).02 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 14-17

Author(s):

B. E. Nosenok

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Cultural Studies ◽

Cultural History ◽

Interdisciplinary Approach ◽

The Body ◽

Social Knowledge ◽

History Of Culture ◽

Critical Turn ◽

Definition Of ◽

First Time

Cultural studies as a humanities researcher takes the place of an expert. The relevance of this topic is due to the lack of development of the issues of “culture-based studies” in Ukrainian culturology. There is a lack of translated into French or Ukrainian languages of French sources published since 1975. French culturological science, which developed after 1975, is almost not represented in Ukrainian culturology. The present stage of the development of French historiography, which lies at the heart of cultural history, and cultural studies, is associated with increased attention to social knowledge. This stage is characterized by the deployment of a “critical turn”, which proceeds from the following principles: the interdisciplinary approach, the significance of cultural expertise, the severity of publications and the multiplicity of their forms, multidisciplinarity. The “critical turn” affects the following spheres of knowledge: la Culturologie, les Études culturelles, les Sciences de la Culture. The article substantiates the relevance of the use of the concept of “culture-based studies” to the definition of processes that are unfolding within the framework of French humanities and are associated exclusively with the theoretical formations in the context of the social sciences. The purpose of the article is to outline a map of culture-based studies in the field of French humanitaristics. The methodology of the article is based on the application of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches to research in the field of culturology. Also, methodological developments in the field of “critical turn” and the achievements of the sociological circle and the interdisciplinary discussion club “Eranos” were applied. The scientific novelty of the article is to substantiate the appropriateness of the use of the concept of “culture-based studies” on the definition of processes that are unfolding within the framework of French humanitaristics and relate exclusively to theoretical formations in the context of social sciences. This concept to the field of Ukrainian culturology is introduced for the first time. Also, for the first time, the place and forms of culturology in French humanities were clarified. Conclusions. Working with a source base and methodology is one of the points that are compulsory on the way to the solution of the tasks, the main of which is the formation of the body of fundamental works for French history (including the history of culture) and historiography of the period since 1975 year to the present day. On the basis of this building, there is the prospect of building an alternative national cultural history project addressed to the vector of the French historiographical, historical-anthropological and cultural-related issues in the field of social knowledge. The article presents the arguments why it is appropriate to use the concept of “culture-based studies” in the context of conducting research in relation to French humanitaristics, in particular, the modern period of its development.

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Crossing Thresholds: Identifying conceptual transitions in postsecondary teaching

The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning ◽

10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2013.2.7 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Susan Wilcox ◽

Andy B Leger

Keyword(s):

Critical Discussion ◽

The Body ◽

Faculty Members ◽

Threshold Concepts ◽

Teaching Expertise ◽

Body Of Knowledge ◽

Field Assessment ◽

Real Value ◽

Postsecondary Teaching ◽

Opening Up

In this paper we report on research we conducted to begin the process of identifying threshold concepts in the field of postsecondary teaching. Meyer & Land (2006) propose that within all disciplinary fields there seem to be particular threshold concepts that serve as gateways, opening up new and previously inaccessible ways of thinking and practicing. We developed a series of questions focusing on the “troublesome” and “transformative” characteristics of threshold concepts and asked these questions of several constituent groups, including those who are new to practice and the body of knowledge in postsecondary teaching and those who are already knowledgeable and/or experienced in the field. Based on our interpretation of participants’ responses, we identified four recognized concepts in the field of postsecondary teaching as potential threshold concepts in this field: Assessment for/as learning; Learning-centred teaching; Accommodation for diversity; and, Context-driven practice. Our findings suggest that threshold concepts are relevant to the field of postsecondary teaching. Through this work, we hope to help educational developers and faculty members consider what is involved in learning to teach and developing teaching expertise, and to encourage critical discussion about the teaching development “curriculum” in postsecondary settings. Threshold concepts arise as a field develops and are defined as practitioners and scholars in the field define their field. At this stage, we believe the real value of threshold concepts for postsecondary teaching lies in the discussion that arises in the process of identifying and naming the concepts. Cet article se penche sur le développement de l’enseignement post-secondaire à partir des concepts de seuil. Meyer et Land (2006) suggèrent qu’au sein de tous les champs disciplinaires, il semble y avoir des concepts particuliers qui servent de passerelles et qui ouvrent la voie à de nouvelles manières de penser et de pratiquer jusque là inaccessibles. Les concepts de seuil représentent une manière transformée de comprendre ou de regarder les choses, sans laquelle l’apprenant ne peut pas progresser dans ce champ. Cette vision transformée peut refléter les valeurs de la discipline ou encore résumer la manière dont les experts dans cette discipline abordent les problèmes. Dans cet article, nous présentons un rapport sur notre tentative d’identifier les concepts de seuil en enseignement post-secondaire. Grâce à ces travaux, nous espérons faire avancer les connaissances en enseignement et en apprentissage et aider les conseillers pédagogiques et les professeurs d’université à prendre en considération ce qui est impliqué dans l’apprentissage de l’enseignement. Nous souhaitons également encourager la discussion critique sur la préparation des programmes d’études de l’enseignement et montrer comment s’y prendre pour aider les autres à apprendre comment enseigner dans un milieu post-secondaire. Nous sommes impatients de partager nos résultats préliminaires et espérons engager d’autres personnes dans ce processus d’identification.

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‘The Face of Evil’: The Discourse on ISIS and the Visual Complexities in the ISIS Beheading Videos

Politik ◽

10.7146/politik.v19i4.27636 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Kanar Patruss

Keyword(s):

French Revolution ◽

Body Politic ◽

The Body ◽

Value Judgment ◽

Western Discourse ◽

The Face ◽

Politically Motivated Violence ◽

The One ◽

Opening Up

This article deals with ISIS’s beheading videos of Western victims from 2014 and inscribes itself into an emerging body of literature on visuality in IR. The paper contends that the image of ISIS beheadings has been mobilized in a Western political discourse that classifies ISIS as evil, and has hereby helped shape the conditions under which international politics operate. The article offers a Nietzsche-inspired critique of the value judgment of evil in the Western discourse and, in extension, seeks to nuance the assessment of ISIS through a ‘re-reading’ of the beheading image. For this purpose, the article proposes to expand Lene Hansen’s concept of inter-iconicity to capture how an icon’s meaning is produced in relation to other icons and, in this light, explores the inter-iconic relations between the image of ISIS beheadings, on the one hand, and the decapitations of the French Revolution and the image of the ‘body politic’, on the other. The inter-iconic reading draws out alternative meanings of the image of ISIS beheadings that counter the classification of ISIS as evil, thereby expanding the conditions for political speech and action regarding ISIS and opening up space for a broader critique of politically motivated violence.

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