Portrait of a Woman Artist: The Rhetorical Construction of Camille Claudel as a Tragic Feminist Heroine

Abstract

The analysis of the film Camille Claudel works to uncover the textual negotiations and sources of viewing pleasure rhetorically constructed into the cinematic representation of the film's subject. I argue that female viewers, in particular, are presented with a paradoxical viewing experience as the film both invites identification with Claudel, the film's subject, at the same time that it creates a sense of distance from the woman artist through her representation as an object of the filmic gaze. I conclude that these competing images may be seen as both ideologically interesting to female viewers and simultaneously challenging for feminist ideals.

Department

Communication

Publication Date

6-2009

Journal Title

Feminist Media Studies

Publisher

Taylor and Francis

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1080/14680770902814876

Document Type

Article

Rights

Copyright © 2009 Routledge

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