The Male Gaze versus Female Self-Determination in Ekphrastic Poetry

Carol Ann Duffy’s "Standing Female Nude"

Essai , 2015 , 15 Pages , Note: 1,3

Didactique de l'Anglais - Genres

This essay examines the confrontation of the male gaze with female self-determination in ekphrastic poetry, using the poem Standing Female Nude by Carol Ann Duffy as an example.

The main aim of the essay is to show how ekphrasis and its specific features serve as a space in which gender conflicts are debated in the realm of aesthetics and how the emergence of a “distinctive female ekphrastic mode” (Kennedy 2012: 90) led to a shift from masculine dominance towards female power in the genre. In a first step, a definition of ekphrasis will be given and we will argue the case for why certain characteristics make ekphrasis particularly suitable for exhibiting the male gaze.

Subsequently, in a second step, we will demonstrate to what extent female writers have modified the conventions of ekphrasis and challenged its traditional gender relations to suit their own need for self-determination. Carol Ann Duffy’s poem Standing Female Nude (1985) will serve as an example for feminist ekphrasis.

Outline

Introduction

1. Ekphrasis as the Epitome of Male Power in Aesthetics
1.1 Definition of Ekphrasis
1.2 The Male Gaze in Aesthetics and Ekphrasis

2. Female Modification of the Genre on the Example of Carol Ann Duffy’s Standing Female Nude (1985)
2.1 The Voice of Female Authors of Ekphrasis
2.2 Still Ekphrasis? - Contesting Traditional Male Conventions
2.3 The Transformation of the Ekphrastic Image : From Object to Subject

3. Conclusion

Attachment

Bibliography

• Université: Free University of Berlin (Institut für englische Philologie)
• Cours: Ekphrasis: Theory and Practice
• Note: 1,3
• Auteur: Juliane Amthor (Auteur)
• Année de publication: 2015
• Pages: 15
• N° de catalogue: V307706
• ISBN (ebook): 9783668059948
• ISBN (Livre): 9783668059955
• Langue: anglais
• mots-clé: male gaze, female self-determination, standing female nude, carol ann duffy, female ekphrastic mode, Ekphrasie, ekphrastic poertry, ekphrasis