Abstract
This research paper examines the ways in which the autobiographical impulse is
constructed in selected artworks of Tracey Emin (b1963-) and Claudette Schreuders
(b1973-). It is situated within contemporary discourses around notions of the self,
namely postmodernist, feminist and post colonialist frameworks. This critical discussion
of notions of the self, as evidenced in these selected artworks, leads into discourses of
Authenticity, of Histories, personal and collective and of the role Identity formation plays
in the performing self. In conducting this research I have drawn on a wide range of
theoretical frameworks including philosophy, psychoanalysis and literary theory,
including magical realism.
The first part of my study presents the theoretical frameworks of Authenticity, History
and Identity regarding the autobiographical impulse. The second section of this paper
examines the selected works of Emin and Schreuders. I chose these two artists because
of their different strategies in performing themselves rather than their similarities, which
allows for an interrogation of a broader framework of contemporary artistic practices.
The concluding chapter examines my practical artwork during the period of my Masters
degree. My work comes from an autobiographical base and I create a ‘self-portrait’
through my accumulation, production and display of objects. My exhibition took the form of an installation whereby I created an uncomfortable atmosphere through various
methods including stimulating the olfactory sense in a predominant way.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/4916 |
| Date | 02 June 2008 |
| Creators | Hossack, Daryl Fran |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 7523450 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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