Body Fluids and Gender in Picaresque Art and Writing (original) (raw)

This article explores somatic metaphors related to explosion, outburst and eruption in visual and verbal texts. In her well-known ‘manifesto’ The Laugh of the Medusa (1975) Hélène Cixous made the memorable association of eruption, milk and écriture feminine. The association of female body fluids with the idea of excess has a long history and in recent decades many feminist artists have exploited this association with subversive intent. Can their subversive use of somatic metaphors of excess simply be accounted for by their common interest in dismantling patriarchy? It could rather be argued that there are various basic orientations, persuasions and biases underlying specific uses of metaphors of somatic eruption. One strand in the use of metaphors related to bodily eruptions will be explored here to divulge matching underlying directives or ideological allegiances in art and discourse, sometimes across centuries. Such an inquiry lies in the intersection between philosophy, literary ...