Ecce Homo: The Male-Body-in-Pain as Redemptive Figure
Kent L. Brintnall
Abstract
Images of suffering male bodies permeate Western culture, from Francis Bacon's paintings and Robert Mapplethorpe's photographs to the battered heroes of action movies. Drawing on perspectives from a range of disciplines—including religious studies, gender and queer studies, psychoanalysis, art history, and film theory—this book explores the complex, ambiguous meanings of the enduring figure of the male-body-in-pain. Acknowledging that representations of men confronting violence and pain can reinforce ideas of manly tenacity, it also argues that they reveal the vulnerability of men's bodies and ... More
Images of suffering male bodies permeate Western culture, from Francis Bacon's paintings and Robert Mapplethorpe's photographs to the battered heroes of action movies. Drawing on perspectives from a range of disciplines—including religious studies, gender and queer studies, psychoanalysis, art history, and film theory—this book explores the complex, ambiguous meanings of the enduring figure of the male-body-in-pain. Acknowledging that representations of men confronting violence and pain can reinforce ideas of manly tenacity, it also argues that they reveal the vulnerability of men's bodies and open them up to eroticization. Locating the roots of our cultural fascination with male pain in the crucifixion, the book analyzes the way narratives of Christ's death and resurrection both support and subvert cultural fantasies of masculine power and privilege. Through readings of works by Georges Bataille, Kaja Silverman, and more, it delineates the redemptive power of representations of male suffering and violence.
Keywords:
male bodies,
Western culture,
Francis Bacon,
Robert Mapplethorpe,
action movies,
religious studies,
queer studies,
psychoanalysis,
art history,
film theory
Bibliographic Information
Print publication date: 2012 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780226074696 |
Published to Chicago Scholarship Online: September 2013 |
DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226074719.001.0001 |