The vampire has haunted the pages of countless literary works, from its first appearance in the 1... more The vampire has haunted the pages of countless literary works, from its first appearance in the 18th century to the present day. Emerging in its various fantastical forms, the sensuality, sexuality and violent voracity of this villain ensure that it remains a captivating literary figure, representing the time-honoured human desires of ‘power, sex and immortality.’ The aim of this dissertation is to analyse how the combination of violence, gender, sex and death in the figure of the vampire reflects relationships between the sexes, as well as the position of women and of female artists in society.
Inspired by the winter 2014 Royal Academy exhibition of some of Anselm Kiefer's most significant ... more Inspired by the winter 2014 Royal Academy exhibition of some of Anselm Kiefer's most significant works, the aim of this essay is to address the ways in which Kiefer represents human morality in relation to National Socialism, German identity and remembrance of Germany’s past through his work. This essay also analyses the extent to which his work, in relation to Theodor Adorno’s proclamation that all art after Auschwitz must be engaged in preventing a recurrence of such atrocities, is sufficiently critical and preventative. The questions raised by Adorno, as to how one can adequately represent the trauma of the 20th century and how one can even truly be an artist in the wake of National Socialist culture, are critically addressed by Kiefer who at once implicates and engages himself and the viewer with the culpability of mankind and the myths that legitimised the holocaust, initiating important discussions with his deliberately controversial pieces. Throughout the essay, the focus is largely on Kiefer's earlier book cycles and pieces that recycle some of these earlier images and ideas which were so provocative in the 1970s and which continue to generate public debate on how we can adequately represent or come to terms with traumatic history and its effect on cultural identity.
The aim of this essay is to analyse the conditions surrounding the death of Agnes Koljaiczek in G... more The aim of this essay is to analyse the conditions surrounding the death of Agnes Koljaiczek in Günter Grass’ ‘The Tin Drum,’ and to reveal some of the intricate symbols, religious codes and morbid underworld imagery that permeate the ritual and sacrificial rites under which Agnes dies. With reference to the writing of René Girard, Mikhail Bakhtin and Elisabeth Bronfen this essay will analyse the social function of sacrifice and ritualised violence, and in this particular literary case, of female suicide – raising the question as to why it is Agnes who becomes the sacrificial lamb, the first major casualty in a row of main characters’ deaths.
The vampire has haunted the pages of countless literary works, from its first appearance in the 1... more The vampire has haunted the pages of countless literary works, from its first appearance in the 18th century to the present day. Emerging in its various fantastical forms, the sensuality, sexuality and violent voracity of this villain ensure that it remains a captivating literary figure, representing the time-honoured human desires of ‘power, sex and immortality.’ The aim of this dissertation is to analyse how the combination of violence, gender, sex and death in the figure of the vampire reflects relationships between the sexes, as well as the position of women and of female artists in society.
Inspired by the winter 2014 Royal Academy exhibition of some of Anselm Kiefer's most significant ... more Inspired by the winter 2014 Royal Academy exhibition of some of Anselm Kiefer's most significant works, the aim of this essay is to address the ways in which Kiefer represents human morality in relation to National Socialism, German identity and remembrance of Germany’s past through his work. This essay also analyses the extent to which his work, in relation to Theodor Adorno’s proclamation that all art after Auschwitz must be engaged in preventing a recurrence of such atrocities, is sufficiently critical and preventative. The questions raised by Adorno, as to how one can adequately represent the trauma of the 20th century and how one can even truly be an artist in the wake of National Socialist culture, are critically addressed by Kiefer who at once implicates and engages himself and the viewer with the culpability of mankind and the myths that legitimised the holocaust, initiating important discussions with his deliberately controversial pieces. Throughout the essay, the focus is largely on Kiefer's earlier book cycles and pieces that recycle some of these earlier images and ideas which were so provocative in the 1970s and which continue to generate public debate on how we can adequately represent or come to terms with traumatic history and its effect on cultural identity.
The aim of this essay is to analyse the conditions surrounding the death of Agnes Koljaiczek in G... more The aim of this essay is to analyse the conditions surrounding the death of Agnes Koljaiczek in Günter Grass’ ‘The Tin Drum,’ and to reveal some of the intricate symbols, religious codes and morbid underworld imagery that permeate the ritual and sacrificial rites under which Agnes dies. With reference to the writing of René Girard, Mikhail Bakhtin and Elisabeth Bronfen this essay will analyse the social function of sacrifice and ritualised violence, and in this particular literary case, of female suicide – raising the question as to why it is Agnes who becomes the sacrificial lamb, the first major casualty in a row of main characters’ deaths.
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