Engaging Diversity through the Grotesque Body: The Sociopolitical Efficacy of the Grotesque Body in
Contemporary African and Western Visual Fine Art and Popular Media
ABSTRACT
The grotesque body is the known body intertwined with the alien or the horrific. When confronted with the grotesque body, how one understands the world is challenged in that one is confronted with something so alien, so horrifying that it should not be; the grotesque body can challenge one’s sense of equilibrium and security in the world. Representations of grotesque bodies provoke a push-pull, repulsion-attraction reaction as one seeks a way to mitigate the perceived horror, making it more understandable or at least less dangerous. The innate ambiguity of representations of grotesque bodies produces uncertainty, which encourages one to look to the larger setting and context for clues for how to interpret the figuration with which one is confronted. The mutable nature of visual metaphors, such as those often employed in grotesque figurations, is particularly sensitive to the context and histories in which they are revealed and the sociocultural backgrounds of the viewer experiencing the artwork. The context can, at times, provide meaning one seeks and thus allow for closure, but more often it can open up new questions and intensify the uncertainty, and possibly lead to stronger, more visceral reactions such as offense, horror, or even outrage. Such strong, visceral responses become opportunities to examine why representations of grotesque bodies affect one so deeply, and can lead to the examination of cultural assumptions and master narratives implicated in the figuration. I assert that spaces between overt meanings and covert assumptions of the artwork are where the visceral responses emerge and intertwine with conscious interpretations, providing fertile ground for deeper understanding of the sociocultural and political histories and contexts being addressed; to this end, I will analyze the artwork of several contemporary, globally-recognized artists, with a specific focus on contemporary African artists who fabricate or recreate grotesque bodies in their art to address sociopolitical and cultural injustice. As a scholar-educator, I propose that such examinations of grotesque body figurations, through their unique ability to both repulse and attract the viewer on affective and visceral levels, provide a unique opportunity to engage students in critical analysis of issues of diversity and difference, including such uncomfortable, emotionally and politically charged topics of racism, classism, gender inequality, as well as other systematic privileges and injustices prevalent in our local, national, and global worlds.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract............................................................................................................................ i
Acknowledgements......................................................................................................... iii
Chapter 1......................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction: The Grotesque, the Body, and Visual Representation
Chapter 2......................................................................................................................... 42
A Grotesque Body as Sociopolitical Figuration
Chapter 3......................................................................................................................... 97
A Grotesque Body as Sociocultural Figuration
Chapter 4......................................................................................................................... 158
Grotesque Body as Demand for Social Justice:
Art of Late Apartheid and Post-Apartheid South Africa
Chapter 5......................................................................................................................... 235
Conclusion: The Grotesque Body, Visual Literacy, and
Engaging with Difference in the College Classroom
Works Cited.................................................................................................................... 251
Contemporary African and Western Visual Fine Art and Popular Media
ABSTRACT
The grotesque body is the known body intertwined with the alien or the horrific. When confronted with the grotesque body, how one understands the world is challenged in that one is confronted with something so alien, so horrifying that it should not be; the grotesque body can challenge one’s sense of equilibrium and security in the world. Representations of grotesque bodies provoke a push-pull, repulsion-attraction reaction as one seeks a way to mitigate the perceived horror, making it more understandable or at least less dangerous. The innate ambiguity of representations of grotesque bodies produces uncertainty, which encourages one to look to the larger setting and context for clues for how to interpret the figuration with which one is confronted. The mutable nature of visual metaphors, such as those often employed in grotesque figurations, is particularly sensitive to the context and histories in which they are revealed and the sociocultural backgrounds of the viewer experiencing the artwork. The context can, at times, provide meaning one seeks and thus allow for closure, but more often it can open up new questions and intensify the uncertainty, and possibly lead to stronger, more visceral reactions such as offense, horror, or even outrage. Such strong, visceral responses become opportunities to examine why representations of grotesque bodies affect one so deeply, and can lead to the examination of cultural assumptions and master narratives implicated in the figuration. I assert that spaces between overt meanings and covert assumptions of the artwork are where the visceral responses emerge and intertwine with conscious interpretations, providing fertile ground for deeper understanding of the sociocultural and political histories and contexts being addressed; to this end, I will analyze the artwork of several contemporary, globally-recognized artists, with a specific focus on contemporary African artists who fabricate or recreate grotesque bodies in their art to address sociopolitical and cultural injustice. As a scholar-educator, I propose that such examinations of grotesque body figurations, through their unique ability to both repulse and attract the viewer on affective and visceral levels, provide a unique opportunity to engage students in critical analysis of issues of diversity and difference, including such uncomfortable, emotionally and politically charged topics of racism, classism, gender inequality, as well as other systematic privileges and injustices prevalent in our local, national, and global worlds.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract............................................................................................................................ i
Acknowledgements......................................................................................................... iii
Chapter 1......................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction: The Grotesque, the Body, and Visual Representation
Chapter 2......................................................................................................................... 42
A Grotesque Body as Sociopolitical Figuration
Chapter 3......................................................................................................................... 97
A Grotesque Body as Sociocultural Figuration
Chapter 4......................................................................................................................... 158
Grotesque Body as Demand for Social Justice:
Art of Late Apartheid and Post-Apartheid South Africa
Chapter 5......................................................................................................................... 235
Conclusion: The Grotesque Body, Visual Literacy, and
Engaging with Difference in the College Classroom
Works Cited.................................................................................................................... 251