Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies

Relational Viewing: Affect, Trauma And The Viewer In Contemporary Autobiographical Art, Matthew Ryan Smith Aug 2012

Relational Viewing: Affect, Trauma And The Viewer In Contemporary Autobiographical Art, Matthew Ryan Smith

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation examines the communicative relationship between contemporary autobiographical art and the viewer. By analyzing the work of six artists, Richard Billingham, Jaret Belliveau, Larry Clark, Nan Goldin, Lisa Steele and Bas Jan Ader, I maintain that lived experience and personal history condition the way viewers respond to autobiographical art. I turn to literary theory as a critical methodology to argue that autobiographical art operates as a catalyst for identification, memory and self-discovery. I use affect and trauma theory to demonstrate how artwork produces meaning and discourse through the viewer’s feelings, emotions and bodily sensations. Consequently, I survey the importance …


Born Again Hard : Transgender Subjectivity In Paul Chadwick's Concrete, Justin Raymond Apr 2012

Born Again Hard : Transgender Subjectivity In Paul Chadwick's Concrete, Justin Raymond

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Born Again explores how the alien-hybrid character Concrete from the eponymous comic can be used to generate understanding of transgender (trans) lives. I use Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's concept of reparative reading in order to formulate an understanding of Concrete that generates new theoretical insight into trans lives, while also ensuring the development of what Viviane Namaste calls “ethical trans theory.” Born Again argues that even though Concrete does not “look like a transgender person is supposed to,” his experiences of gender dissonance and queer optimism allow him to act as a source of amelioration and pleasure for readers who are …