Discourse & Configurations of Gender - Reconfiguring Gender Conceptions

This book is an investigation of the discourse of§gender in §relation to the work of Michel Foucault, Susan Bordo,§Judith Butler §and the artists Louise Bourgeois, Fiona Hall, Jo§Spence and Neil §Emmerson. I have applied Foucault's notion of the§formation, §necessity and operations of discourses as the basis§from which ideas §can be articulated, and context within which notions§of gender are §formulated and challenged. I examine the processes in §discourses, such as the imposition of disciplines to§control the §subject, which in turn are inscribed in the body of§the subject by the §subject, as they begin to perceive and define§themselves in terms of §the disciplines. I use this theory on the§relationship between §discourse-power-knowledge to analyse my work and that§of the§artists mentioned. The work of each artist is§discussed in terms of §the discourse of gender and the basis from which they§critique its §power, its effects on bodies and forms of§representation through a §marginal discourse. For the purposes of my work, the§conclusion §reached is that to disrupt the discourse of gender§entails a continual §questioning and awareness of its 'truths,' processes§and effects.