Over her dead body: Death, femininity and the aestheticIn 1846, Edgar Allen Poe wrote that 'the death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetic topic in the world'. The conjuction of death, art and femininity forms a rich and disturbing strata of Western culture, explored here in fascinating detail by Elisabeth Bronfen. Her examples range from Carmen to Little Nell, from Wuthering Heights to Vertigo, from Snow White to Frankenstein. The text is richly illustrated throughout with thirty-seven paintings and photographs. |
Contents
Part II From animate body to inanimate text | 57 |
Part III Strategies of translation mitigation and exchange | 179 |
Part IV Stabilising the ambivalence of repetition | 253 |
Aporias of resistance | 393 |
| 436 | |
| 453 | |
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Common terms and phrases
absence acknowledge allows ambivalence appearance argues articulates aspect beauty becomes beloved bride castration complete construction corpse creation cultural dangerous dead body death death drive desire difference discussion disruption division double dying emerges enacts event excess exchange existence experience face fact fatal feminine body figure final finds fixed Freud function gaze gesture gives hand human imagination implies involves killing lack language laws letter literally living loss lost lover marks masculine material meaning memory mother mourning murder narcissistic narrative nature never notion object once painting perfect poetic poses position precisely presence preserved privileged produces question reference relation remains repeats repetition representation represents rhetorical seems seen sense serves sexual signifier social speaking stable stages story suggests suicide symbolic takes transformation translation trope truth turn uncanny virtue wholeness woman women writing