The Return of the Woman Terrorist: This Case of Brigitte Mohnhaupt Cover Image
  • Price 4.50 €

Powrót terrorystki. Przypadek Brigitte Mohnhaupt
The Return of the Woman Terrorist: This Case of Brigitte Mohnhaupt

Author(s): Beata Łazarz
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Psychology, Visual Arts, Sociology, Social psychology and group interaction, Psychoanalysis, Criminology, Studies in violence and power, Penology, Social Norms / Social Control
Published by: Instytut Badań Literackich Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: terrorism; psychoanalysis; art

Summary/Abstract: This article aims to analyse works from the series ‘Sympathy for the Devil?/The Wretched of the Earth’ (2008-2011) by the British artist Esiri Erheriene-Essi. The central figure is Brigitte Mohnhaupt, the German terrorist responsible for the most brutal attacks perpetrated by the Red Army Faction (RAF). Łazarz draws on psychoanalytical tools, especially ones based on the works of on Sigmund Freud and Hanna Segal. Her analysis suggests that the creation of Mohnhaupt’s portrait allowed the artist to engage in a sort of public autotherapy that made it possible to confront herself with her own emotions relating to terrorism, to become aware of ambivalence and to become empathic towards the protagonist. Her audience can participate in this experience, both consciously and unconsciously.

  • Issue Year: 2016
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 363-375
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: Polish