Claire Pajaczkowska
Related: feminism - feminist film theory - visual culture
Profile
Senior Lecturer in Visual Culture at Middlesex University, Claire Pajaczkowska teaches on the historical, social, psychoanalytic and textual analysis of art, film, design and popular culture. Her latest book is on Feminist Visual Culture.
Recent publications include "Art, a Symptom of not-dying," in New Formations(1995); "The Ecstatic Solace of Culture, Self, Not-self and Other," in J. Steyn (ed.) Other Than Identity(1995); and "Structure and Pleasure," in J. Bird, et al (eds.) The BLOCK Reader in Visual Culture(1996). Forthcoming publications include Feminist Visual Culture (edited with Fiona Carson) (Edinburgh University Press, 2000). --http://vcm.mdx.ac.uk/staff/c_Pajaczkowska.html [Feb 2006]
On power-based identities
An identity based on power never has to develop a sense of itself as responsible, it has no sense of its limits except as those are perceived in opposition to others. The blankness of the identity of empire covers an ambivalence which is often unconscious, and which, consequently, can most readily be perceived in the representations it creates of the colonial "other" (Pajaczkowska & Young, 1992, p. 202).Perversion (2000) - Claire Pajaczkowska
While Sigmund Freud clearly intended the psychoanalytic concept of 'perversion' to be free from the moral judgement the word carries in colloquial use, the relationship of perversion to hostility and sexuality makes it a troubling concept. Is perversion an emotion? Is it a form of thinking or belief? Is perversion a sexual act?
Sometimes described as an acting out of unconscious fantasy, perversion combines feelings of revenge, triumph and control as a defence against experiencing trauma and helplessness. The concept of perversion is used widely within psychoanalysis to understand the unconscious dynamics of addiction, sexual abuse, delinquency, murder, sexual assault and even burglary. The concepts of narcissism, fetishism, voyeurism and sado-masochism are also useful as tools to analyse our culture, particularly in relation to film. -- from amazon.com
Feminist Visual Culture (2001) - Fiona Carson and Claire Pajaczkowska
Feminist Visual Culture (2001) - Fiona Carson and Claire Pajaczkowska [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Visual culture is all around us: television, dance, film, fashion, painting, sculpture, installation and fine art are only a few of its many faces. Feminist Visual Culture looks at feminist theory, the role of women, and the contribution of women artists to the world of visual culture. This substantial introduction provides an overview of visual culture and of the origins of feminist practice. In the volume's three sections--Fine Art, Design, and Mass Media--the authors discuss the visual media specific to that area, incorporating wider issues such as class, culture, and ethnicity. Each chapter is written by a woman working in a different field of visual culture. A topical and comprehensive introduction, Feminist Visual Culture will be a valuable tool for readers and students in women's studies, visual studies, and media studies.
About the Author
Fiona Carson is an artist and Senior Lecturer in Women's Studies and Art History at the University of East London. Claire Pajaczkowska Senior Lecturer in Visual Culture at Middlesex University. Her most recent book is Perversion.
See also: visual culture - feminism - feminist film theory - gaze - Claire Pajaczkowska
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