The Politics of Representation as a Projection of Identity: Female Body in Context of its Oriental Construction in Serbian Art
The Politics of Representation as a Projection of Identity: Female Body in Context of its Oriental Construction in Serbian Art

Author(s): Simona Čupić
Subject(s): Gender Studies, Visual Arts, Gender history, Sociology of Art
Published by: Centar za ženske studije & Centar za studije roda i politike, Fakultet političkih nauka, Beograd
Summary/Abstract: THIS ARTICLE DEALS WITH QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE NATURE OF THE REPRESENTATION OF THE FEMALE BODY WITHIN THE SO-CALLED “ORIENTAL” DISCOURSE IN SERBIAN ART: WHO IS THE PAINTER? FOR WHOM IS THE WORK PAINTED? WITH WHOM IS THE WORK IDENTIFIED? WITH WHAT OTHER POSSIBILITIES OF IDENTIFICATION DOES THE WORK LEAVE US? IN THE CONTEXT OF THE HISTORICAL CODES, A STANCE TOWARDS A BODY IS SEEN AS A PROJECTION OF SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND POWER IMPULSES. IN THE FIRST CASE STUDIED, THE ARTIST, DJORDJE KRSTIC, WAS A MALE COMMISSIONED BY THE SERBIAN COURT TO PAINT A SERIES OF PAINTINGS FOR THE INDIGENOUS POPULATION AND FOREIGNERS. IN THE SECOND CASE STUDY, THE ARTIST, PAJA JOVANOVIC, WAS ALSO A MALE, A SERB WORKING IN VIENNA, WHO PAINTED FOR THE AUDIENCE OF THE “REAL EUROPE” FROM THE POSITION OF AN ALTERNATIVE IDENTITY. THE THIRD CASE STUDY FOCUSES ON A FEMALE ARTIST, BABETT BACHMAYER VUKANOVIC, WHO WAS BORN IN GERMANY BUT AFTER MARRYING A SERB MOVED TO HER HUSBAND’S HOMELAND. VISUAL CONSTRUCTIONS OF FEMALE BODIES ARE USED AS THE STARTING POINT FOR THE DECONSTRUCTION OF GENDER-RELATED QUESTIONS WHICH HAVE BEEN IGNORED IN THE ANALYSIS OF THE ÉPOQUE.

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