The Art Of The Readymade Essay - 1816 Words

The Art of the readymade, a controversial topic both at the beginning of its conception and its duration, was provocative for artists and audiences alike. What made the readymade so provocative was the push by artists to go against one of the foundations of art, the material, and instead focus almost entirely on its conceptual development. In short, a consequence of the readymade according to Helen’s Molesworth was â€Å"a disavowal of an ontological definition of art† . A definition previously shaped by academic art focusing on the considered beautiful aesthetics of artworks that pleased audiences up to the early 20th century. In this essay it will be argued that the readymade defies the â€Å"retinal† aspect of art through two factors. The first factor is the application of a foundational physical three step process to allow the readymade to be considered as art. This process is outlined as the inclusive selection of object(s), the removal of the object(s) ori ginal purpose and its artistic redefinition through its placement. Alongside this process is the second factor which is the artists own personal experiences that accompanies and influences the readymades purpose. The process and influence from personal experiences are evidently applied to readymades including Marcel Duchamp’s work Fountain, 1917 and Tracey Emin’s work My Bed, 1998. These readymades are considered art as this process and experience becomes the pivotal point in the development of art shifting and redefining theShow MoreRelatedReadymade Art Essay1113 Words   |  5 Pagesconcept of â€Å"readymade† art was introduced by Marcel Duchamp when he took an ordinary snow shovel and painted the title In advance of the broken arm. He had previously turned a wheel up-side down and attached it to a stool, creating a piece he called Bicycle wheel. This was also considered a â€Å"readymade.† A â€Å"readymade† by Duchamp is â€Å"an ordinary ob ject elevated to the dignity of a work of art by the mere choice of an artist.† Duchamp produced many of these â€Å"readymades,† but it his readymade entitledRead MoreI Will Address Why Readymades Are Regarded As A Work Of Art1473 Words   |  6 Pagescan find many art movements that caused great controversy but the dada movement is one that continues to cause great controversy even now with their use of read-made objects. Ready-made objects are a strong source of controversy because it pushes the borders of concepts and meaning by using artworks that they didn’t create themselves. In this essay I will address why readymades’ are regarded as a work of art despite the controversy behind them and how they influenced conceptual art. In BlindmanRead MoreThe Concept Of Readymade Art Emerged At The Forefront Of The 20th Century1034 Words   |  5 PagesPanasiuk April 9, 2015 The concept of readymade art emerged at the forefront of the 20th century. Artists introduced conceptual pieces that relied solely on perception, rather than creation. This destructuralization of the art world blurred the lines between art and non-art. Absurdity had been introduced, and standards plummeted, in limbo for eternity. Art became void of all rules and obligations, the very distinctions they require. With no structure the art world is obsolete. Through theories ofRead MoreThe Art World Is A Forever Changing System1614 Words   |  7 PagesThe art world is a forever changing system, with new ideas and concepts constantly emerging. Marcel Duchamp, working in a world where art was focused heavily on pleasing the eye, is seen to emerge with a new idea that aimed to challenge this ‘retinal’ approach that was expected of art during this time. Duchamp would call this new approach ‘the readymade’.†¨This essay will discuss how Duchamp used the readyma de, specifically his 1913 piece Bicycle Wheel, to move away from the focus on the visual andRead MoreDadaism and Conceptual Art: Marcel Duchamp1324 Words   |  6 Pagesevaluate how Duchamp’s exhibition of readymade objects changed the status and value of artistic authorship. Readymade is a term devised by Marcel Duchamp in 1915 to label manufactured objects remote from their practical setting and raised to the prestige of art by the action of an artist’s choice and label. Marcel Duchamp was a French-American painter and sculptor. His work is linked with Dadaism and conceptual art, a movement that examined suppositions of what art must be, and in what way it shouldRead MoreDadaism Art763 Words   |  4 Pagesis an art movement from the post World War 1 era (/www.artinthepicture.com). Dadaism was founded by an author named Hugo Ball in 1916 (www.tate.org.uk). Dadaism is more than paintings and drawings. Dadaism can be anything from visual arts, literature, and theatrical performances (www.artinthepicture.com). I like Dadaism because it is art that makes people think about the question what is art in a way that other art styles do not. The point of Dada is to confuse the person looking at the art. The threeRead MoreCommentary On The History Of Communication Design788 Words   |  4 Pagesbarbarism was being offered alternatively. Art also suffered and the alternative for this appeared to be Dadaism. The movement was ultra-leftist, anti-war, anti-estab lishment and most relevantly, anti-art. The Dadaist movement was a direct criticism of traditional artistic values and provoked with outrageous statements and actions. They classified the art that came before as a part of the system and therefore, attacked it, questioning the value of art and whether it only existed as an indulgentRead MoreThe Controversy of Marcel Duchamp Essay855 Words   |  4 Pages One of the most unique figures in the continuum of the art world, Marcel Duchamp changed the way we look at and produce art today. Marcel Duchamp was by far, one of the most controversial figures in art. Two of the most well known and talked about pieces by him are The Fountain and The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, Even . Duchamp created many other pieces that caught the attention of critics, other artists, and the population in a negative way; however, these two pieces alone, brought aboutRead MoreGeorge Benjamin Luks : A New York City1437 Words   |  6 PagesMany times in society, life is sometimes influenced by art and during other times art is imitated by life. Art being able to imitate life means that the brush strokes of a painter or the innovative ideas of an architect are influenced by the world around him or her. During the years of 1900-1917 the United States was going through a number of changes. These changes helped to indentify the period as the Reformation Era. During the Reformation era the United States was becoming reshaped politicallyRead MoreMarcel Duchamp And John Cage1574 Words   |  7 PagesThis essay will demonstrate how two revolutionary artists, Marcel Duchamp and John Cage still play a significant role in contemporary art practice and theory today. During the early 20th century, Marcel Duchamp was influenced by the emerging artistic movements such as Dada and Cubism. He experimented with Cubism briefly and attempted to capture time and motion in a cubist style painting. He endeavoured to â€Å"detheorize’ Cubism in order to give it a freer interpretation’. Inspired by his time lapse

Cults in Nigeria free essay sample

The organization is dedicated to humanitarian and charitable endeavourers within Nigeria and whatever society the members find themselves. The Pirates Creed The Piratical aims of fighting all social ills and conformist degradation within and outside our midst stand supreme. These are translated into the creed which is supposed to act as a guide to our acts and thoughts and to the solutions to dilemmas that may face us in making choices in life.There are four compass points whose function is to give us founding principles upon which to direct our lives. ; Against Convention ; Against Tribalism ; For Humanistic Ideals ; For Comradeship and Calvary Certain psychological themes which recur in these various historical contexts also arise in the study of cults. Cults can be identified by three characteristics: 1. A charismatic leader who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have originally sustained the group lose their power; 2. We will write a custom essay sample on Cults in Nigeria or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page A process call coercive persuasion or thought reform; 3. Anomic, sexual, and other exploitation of group members by the leader and the ruling coterie. Milieu Control The first method characteristically used by ideological totality is milieu control: the control of all communication within a given environment In such an environment individual autonomy becomes a threat to the group. There is an attempt to manage an individuals inner communication. Milieu control is maintained and expressed by intense group process, continuous psychological pressure, and isolation by geographical distance, unavailability of transportation, or even physical restraint. Often the group creates an increasingly intense sequence of events such as seminars, lectures and encounters which makes leaving extremely difficult, both physically and psychologically. Intense milieu control can contribute to a dramatic change of identity which I call doubling: the formation of a second self which lives side by side with the former one, often for a considerable time. When the milieu control is lifted, elements of the earlier self may be reasserted. Creating a Pawn A second characteristic of totalistic environments is mystical manipulation or planned spontaneity.This is a systematic process through which the dervish can create in cult members what I call the psychology of the pawn. The process is managed so that it appears to arise spontaneously; to its objects it rarely feels like manipulation. Religious techniques such as fasting chanting and limited sleep are used. Manipulation may take on a special intense quality in a cult for which a particular chosen human being is the only source of salvation. The person of the leader may attract members to the cult, but can also be a source of disillusionment.If members of the Unification Church, for example, come to believe that Sun Unsung Moon, its founder, is associated with the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, they may lose their faith. Mystical manipulation may also legitimate deception of outsiders, as in the heavenly deception of the Unification Church and analogous practices in other cult environments. Anyone who has not seen the light and therefore lives in the realm of evil can be justifiably deceived for a higher purpose.For instance, collectors of funds may be advised to deny their affiliation with a cult that has a dubious public reputation. Purity and Confession Two other features of totality are a demand for purity and a cult of confession. The demand for purity is a call for radical separation of good and evil within the environment and within oneself. Purification is a continuing process, often institutionalized in the cult of confession, which enforces conformity through guilt and shame evoked by mutual criticism and self- criticism in small groups.Confessions contain varying mixtures of revelation and concealment. As Albert Scams observed, Authors of confessions write especially to avoid confession, to tell nothing of what they know. Young cult members confessing the sins of their prelatic lives may leave out ideas and linings that they are not aware of or reluctant to discuss, including a continuing identification with their prior existence. Repetitious confession, especially in required meetings, often expresses an arrogance in the name of humility.As Scams wrote: l practice the profession of penitence to be able to end up as a judge, and, The more I accuse myself, the more I have a right to judge you. Three further aspects of ideological totality are sacred science, loading of the language, and the principle of doctrine over person Sacred science is important because a claim of being scientific is often needed to main plausibility and influence in the modern age. The Unification Church is one example of a contemporary tendency to combine dogmatic religious principles with a claim to special scientific knowledge of human behavior and psychology.The term loading the language refers to literalism and a tendency to deify words or images. A simplified, cliche-ridden language can exert enormous psychological force reducing every issue in a complicated life to a single set of slogans that are said to embody the truth as a totality. The principle of doctrine over person is invoked when cult members sense a inflict between what they are experiencing and what dogma says they should experience. The internalized message of the totalistic environment is that one must negate that personal exp erience on behalf of the truth of the dogma.Contradictions become associated with guilt: doubt indicates ones own deficiency or evil. Perhaps the most significant characteristic of totalistic movements is what I call dispensing of existence. Those who have not seen the light and embraced the truth are wedded to evil, tainted, and therefore in some sense, usually metaphorical, lack the right to exist. That is one reason why a cult member threatened with being cast into outer darkness may experience a fear of extinction or collapse. Ender particularly malignant conditions, the dispensing of existence is taken literally; in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and elsewhere, people were put to death for alleged doctrinal shortcomings. In the Peoples Temple mass suicide-murder in Guyana, a cult leader presided over the literal dispensing of existence by means of a suicidal mystique he himself had made a central theme in the groups ideology. The totalistic impulse to draw a sharp line between those who have the right to eve and those who do not is especially dangerous in the nuclear age.Historical Context Totality should a lways be considered within a specific historical context. A significant feature of contemporary life is the historical (or psycho historical) dislocation resulting from a loss of the gym folic structures that organize ritual transitions in the life cycle, and a decay of belief systems concerning religion, authority, marriage, family, and death. One function of cults is to provide a group initiation rite for the transition to early adult life, and the formation of an adult identity outside the family.Cult members have good reasons for eyeing attempts by the larger culture to make such provisions as hypocritical or confused. In providing substitute symbols for young people, cults are both radical and reactionary. They are radical because they suggest rude questions about middle-class family life and American political and religious values in general. They are reactionary because they revive performed structures of authority and sometimes establish fascist patterns of internal organization.Furthermore, in their assault on autonomy and self-de finition some cults reject a liberating historical process that has evolved with great struggle and main in the West since the Renaissance. (Cults must be considered individually in making such judgments. Historical dislocation is one source of what I call the protean style. This involves a continuous psychological experimentation with the self, a capacity for endorsing contradictory ideas at the same time, and a tendency to change ones ideas, companions and way of life with relative ease.Cults embody a contrary restricted style, a flight from experimentation and the confusion of a protean world. These contraries are related: groups and individuals can embrace a protean and a restricted style n turn. For instance, the so-called hippie ethos of the sass and sass has been replaced by the present so-called Yuppie preoccupation with safe jobs and comfortable incomes. For some people, experimentation with a cult is part of the protean search. The imagery of extinction derived from the con temporary threat of nuclear war influences patterns of totality and fundamentalism throughout the world.Nuclear war threatens human continuity itself and impairs the symbols of immortality. Cults seize upon this threat to provide amortizing principles of their own. The cult environment plies a continuous opportunity for the experience Of transcendence a mode of symbolic immortality generally suppressed in advanced industrial society. Role of Psychology Cults raise serious psychological concerns, and there is a place for psychologists and psychiatrists in understanding and treating cult members. But our powers as mental health professionals are limited, so we should exercise restraint.When helping a young person confused about a cult situation, it is important to maintain a personal therapeutic contract so that one is not working for the cult or for the parents. Totality begets totality. What is called deprogramming includes a continuum from intense dialogue on the one hand to physical coercion and kidnapping, with thought-reform-like techniques, on the other. My own position, which I have repeatedly conveyed to parents and others who consult me, is to oppose coercion at either end of the cult process. Cults are primarily a social and cultural rather than a psychiatric or legal problem.But psychological professionals can make important contributions to the public education crucial for dealing with the problem. With greater knowledge about them, people are less susceptible to exception, and for that reason some cults have been finding it more difficult to recruit members. Yet painful moral dilemmas remain. When laws are violated through fraud or specific harm to recruits, legal intervention is clearly indicated. But what about situations in which behavior is virtually automated, language reduced to rote and cliche, yet the cult member expresses a certain satisfaction or even happiness?We must continue to seek ways to encourage a social commitment to individual autonomy and avoid coercion and violence. N destructive cults, members are manipulated and exploited, they may distance themselves from their family and friends and even leave their careers to work in the cult, often for little or no pay. Their own beliefs and values have been changed to those of the group, and they identify with the group and the leader. They suffer psychological and emotional abuse, and there may be physical or sexual abuse.And very often, at the same time, they believe that theyve never been happier in their lives. Such is the power of mind control! Usually there is an elitist mentality because they have acce ss to information or their leader in a way that outsiders do not. They become very defensive of their leader and in a way their identity and their well-being becomes linked the well-being of the leader. Hence, they will usually be very quick to defend him/her, often aggressively! In the most obvious cases, family and friends notice that there has been a significant change since the person joined the group.A change in their beliefs, attitudes, behaviors and values. They often say its like dealing with a different person. IMPACT ON SOCIETY When we think about cults in this way, it is obvious that they are detrimental to society in many ways. Nowadays, young and old alike are susceptible to eyeing recruited. When people think about cults they do not often consider older people, but nowadays old people are targets because they have money, and may be extremely vulnerable, for example, they find themselves living alone after the recent death of their spouse. When and if members manage to leave, they may need an extensive period of recuperation before they can integrate themselves usefully into society again. Some cults are so large that they have extraordinary (and frightening! )influence in the media, in politics, and in lawmaking. They may dominate whole communities. Some cults are violent, leading to suicides and murders. Destructive cults thrive on conspiracy and fraud, and the legal system is often ill-equipped to deal with them.Cults deny people their freedom. They take away their possessions. Frequently there is sexual abuse. Its possible that many mentally ill people have been in cults, and dont know it. The symptoms they have after leaving a cult are interpreted as mental illness (yes, post-cult symptoms can be that severe! ) And they are treated as such, instead of getting the advice and counseling from experts who understand their situation, and can actually help them to undo the harmful effects of cult mind control.

Effect of Organizational Factors on Performance

Theft of Information and Unauthorized Computer Access

Theft of Information and Unauthorized Computer Access Introduction Information plays a vital role in successful organizational management. Information management using modern information technology enhances organizational survival and decision-making.Advertising We will write a custom article sample on Theft of Information and Unauthorized Computer Access specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Individuals with ill intentions can utilize any security flaw existing in the organization’s information systems to pursue their selfish interests; this, in other words, can render an organization susceptible to risks, which are costly or lower the integrity of the organization. Unauthorized computer access is only possible when an organization information security strategies are weak thus leaving an organization’s information resources vulnerable or accessible. When there are loopholes in the information security management system, malicious individuals take advantage of these ostensible f laws to achieve their ill intentions of either stealing or corrupting an organization’s databases. This paper discusses some of the key threats to an organization’s information security system or the persons that compromise an organizations computer system through unauthorized entry. Some of the highlighted threats are discontented employees, journalists, and political activists, hackers and information agents. Discontented Employees An organization’s information systems can be compromised in a variety of ways. The most notable being actions by discontented employees. Employees become a threat when they have been laid off or when they have left their jobs voluntarily in search of greener pastures. Such people might attempt to steal information with a motive of using it to exploit the company by selling confidential information to the competitors or to leverage on the same to get a new job. Owing to their familiarity with the computer system employed, such unscru pulous staff stands a better chance of successfully sabotaging, hacking or distorting information (Salehnia, 2002). Ideally, every organization should have an information security policy. Unfortunately, most companies lack proper policies to govern storage or management of sensitive and confidential information against theft and fraud. One of the most basic and yet reliable measure towards curbing employee related risks is doing an employee audit.Advertising Looking for article on computer science? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More An employee audit can be done electronically or manually to ascertain that no employee is not in custody of vital company information as they leave the company premises. In addition, magnetic chips should be fixed on crucial organization documents such as reports and files to control information movements. Hackers A hacker is an individual who is well equipped with programming skills and use s these technical skills to gain unauthorized access to an organizations information systems. Hackers do this for personal gigs or monetary gain. Hacking is a serious threat to many organizations’ computer systems. Hackers break into computer systems by compromising the integrity and privacy of data (Cross Shinder, 2008). By obtaining this information, they easily use it to trade with interested parties pretending to be the genuine users. Unlike, other security risks, hackers, pose the greatest risk and can completely jeopardize the operations of the firm. However, several measures such as regular change in passwords and encryption of passwords and user names are important in containing the risk. Journalists and Political Activists Journalists or political activists might be interested in the operations of an organization with intentions of discrediting or damaging the organization’s reputation. While there are codes of ethics that govern journalism, practical codes v ary giving room to substantial overlap in information dissemination. Thus, some journalist and political activist take advantage of this mostly through bias reporting of facts, misrepresentation of figures and blatant deception to the public. Sometimes they will suppress the information even disregarding facts through mischief. Overly, they attempt to shape and influence the opinion of the public (Bosworth Kabay, 2002). Information Agents These people use subversive tactics to gather proprietary information. This information could be anything from new product ideas, bid information, proposals, marketing strategies or research and any other corporate data. They penetrate the information system of a given organization with the intention to find information that they can trade. They sell this information to the highest bidder especially in financial or consultancy or brokerage industry. It is, therefore, important for all organizations to exercise vigilance and secure their systems to any such security threats.Advertising We will write a custom article sample on Theft of Information and Unauthorized Computer Access specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Conclusion It is critical for all organizations to embrace various security strategies to guarantee the safety of vital information and resources in the organization. This can be done by having back up files, changing passwords regularly, use of encryptions, installing antivirus scanners to prevent any unauthorized access to information against persons or foreign software programs. Physical security such as employing guards, using biometrics doors, and controlling unauthorized access can also be deployed. Finally, each organization requires a meticulously formulate information security policy. Failure to institute measures against information security threats, opens up an organization to much information security threats, which can easily compromise an organization†™ information systems. Reference List Bosworth, S Kabay, M. (2002). Computer Security Handbook. New Jersey, NJ: John Wiley Sons. Cross, S. Shinder, D.L. (2008). Scene of Cybercrime. Burlington, MA: Syngress Press. Salehnia, A. (2002). Ethical Issues of Information Systems. Hershey, PA: IRM Press.

Compare and contrast two pieces of art Research Paper

Compare and contrast two pieces of art - Research Paper Example It was painted between the years 1829-32 and is one of the most renowned pieces of work by Hokusai. The painting shows a picture of a huge wave intimidating boats all around it, close to the Kanagawa or Japanese prefecture. Most of the times, people mistake the wave to be a part of the tsunami since the disaster is a very common phenomenon near Japan and the Japanese islands. However, it is a wave of the open sea, a commonality in the region of the water body there. Mount Fuji can also be seen in the background of the picture. The dormant volcano has formed a very important part of Japanese paintings and art because of its significance in the environment around the waves. It is also sometimes painted in order to depict the kind of warning the volcano is supposed to show to its audience through a picture portrayal. The picture is also a part of the Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji and is the first of the series. (Katsushika Hokusai and Japanese Art) â€Å"Washington Crossing the Delawa re† was made in 1851 by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze. ... his crew helps him cross the Delaware River however many say that the American flag shown in the picture is a symbol of anarchism and does not show American unity. The painting had to undergo restoration after it had been destroyed in a fire and then further again, in a bombing. Other pieces of creative art like poems and sonnets have also been made on the basis of the picture portrayed in the painting, which is one of the best forms of art alive for the depiction of the important event that took place in American history. (Washington Crossing the Delaware) Both paintings have been made with a great amount of detail in their own ways; however the technique used in their creation is very different from each other. The Jap-Asian painting made by Hokusai has been made with the Ukiyo-e technique; this is used for making single brush strokes onto silk or even on paper. It is very easy to make very thin lines and use colour very well with this kind of painting. It helps to give a portrayal of a very simple sketch with deep detailing. The waves in the picture have very extensive detail and the lighting has been worked on fantastically with a cloudy background helping to make the same even more sinister in its own way. The fierceness of the waves has been shown wonderfully, especially with the volcano in the backdrop of the painting. In contrast to the same, the painting by Leutze is more realistic in its approach. It has a very artistic touch and composition to it with excellent lighting and Washington’s face looking at the bright sky and sun, revealing an image along the likes of emerging victorious. The picture according to the painting takes place at dawn with very dark tones all along the sky and the sun rising along the horizon. (Leutze, Emanuel) There are different

Evidence-Based Practice Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Evidence-Based Practice - Research Paper Example lity quasi-experimental or randomized group design research and three high quality single subject design researches carried out by at least three different study groups or researchers (Autisminternetmodules.org). Social narratives are visually designed stories that illustrate social circumstances together with socially relevant responses or actions that help persons with autism spectrum disorder acquire and use relevant social skills. Some of the social skills include self-management, decision-making, communication, peer relations and problem-solving abilities. These skills allow individuals to start and sustain positive social relationships. There are numerous narrative approaches that have been developed to meet the social skills shortfalls of persons with ASD. The educators or parents write the narratives that are designed to improve social intelligence. Social narratives help persons with ASD to gain information about the views and emotions of other people. They also help in understanding contextual information that the individuals with ASD may have missed. Social narratives can be an efficient, inexpensive approach that promotes heightened social and behavioral comprehension (Autisminte rnetmodules.org). The first step in creating social narratives is to identify the social situation that needs intervention. The author selects a social behavior that should change, preferably the one in which improvement will enhance social interactions, new social learning opportunities, or even safer environment. The second step is to define clearly the target behavior for data collection. It can be done in a style that all individuals involved in data collection understand it. The author should ensure that the target behavior defined is observable, measurable and specific. In the third step, the author collects baseline data on the target behavior. If the data is gathered over a long period, it will allow the author to determine learning and outcome trends

Jacques Lacan On Masochism Philosophy Essay

Jacques Lacan On Masochism Philosophy Essay A consideration of Lacans interpretation of the Oedipal complex will provide further support for the contention that homoeroticism is both internal to and disruptive of masculine identity. Lacan follows Freud in assigning a central role to the Oedipal complex and its relation to castration, but he articulates the phenomenon in terms of his understanding of the relationship between subject and signification. In Lacans account the subject finds his way to selfhood through the work of the signifying system. The subject does not employ the cultures signifying elements to construct an identity but finds itself in signification, spoken by the signifier. Given this relationship to signification, the subjects self, meaning and desire are articulated from the site of the Other. The externalised reference point for the subjects self-identity creates a gap, a loss, a lack, a sense of alienation at the heart of subjectivity. Forever trying to close the gap of subjectivity the subject is constant ly substituting objects for the phallus in an attempt to restore a fantastic wholeness that may never have been there in the first place. Although Lacan insists that the phallus is a pure and transcendent signifier, that it is neither an object nor an organ, but only a fantasy and an ideal he often describes the phallus using terms that evoke the penis. Also, his description of how the subject realises and overcomes the castrating, alienating loss that accompanies its entry into language establishes a strong equivocation, if not an identification, between the phallus and the penis. Although all subjects experience the alienation attending the entry into language and thus all subjects seek the phallus and its fantastic substitutes, the subject comes to realise something about where the phallus and is not, given that the Other is the source and site of desire. Given the desire of the Other for the subject, the subject comes to an awareness that the Other does not possess the phallus, but is searching for it; the desire of the Other creates a longing on the part of the subject to become the phallus for the Other. Although the structural terms of Lacans description are subject and Other, implying that any desiring other could come to be understood as lacking the phallus and requiring completion by and through the subject. Lacan exclusively describes the lacking Other as the lower-case other, or more precisely, the mother. Whereas neither the subject nor the Other have an official gendered identity when discussed in the most general terms, Lacans description of the symbolic order requires that desiring others be positioned in specific gendered roles so that the subject can imaginatively overcome its alienation. In fact, in order for the symbolic structure to operate on Lacans understanding the only answer to the ever-circulating lack generated by the self-alienation of signification that can serve to cover the gap in subjectivity is the Name-of- the-Father; there is no maternal or feminine equivalent. The actual father in a relation akin to that of the penis and the phallus is, of course, always a stand-in for the symbolic Father, a vague approximation of the figure that secures the Law and halts the flow of the chain of signification initiated by the desire and language of the Other. At the same time in an account similar to the admission that the phallus is the image of the penis where the actual father does not sufficiently approximate the symbolic Father, the subject is likely to succumb to psychosis, unable to find its moorings in the ever-flowing tide of language, unable to structure a stable self. Lacan identifies a number of ways in which the actual father can fail to resemble sufficiently or successfully the symbolic father. First, if the actual mother fails to treat the actual father as an authority figure, as a figure who could instantiate and enforce the Law, then the relationship to the symbolic Father will be marred. Second, if the actual fathers life is riven with failures to attain the achievements and successes culturally assigned to male subjects, then he will also falter in resembling the symbolic Father. Third, if the actual father is so overwhelmingly successful, establishes himself as such a close approximation to the symbolic Father, then he also presents a problem for the subject because the actual fathers inevitable weaknesses and flaws will appear that much more glaring and hypocritical in relation to the symbolic Father he almost exactly approximates. Given the multiple ways in which the actual father can fail to resemble the symbolic Father, given Lacans a dmission that the actual father is always an imposter for the symbolic Father, given his admission that even the symbolic Father is only a fantastic substitute for the phallus which is itself only an imaginary object, are we compelled to conclude that virtually all subjects must be psychotic to some degree or another? Regardless of how we answer this question, Lacans theoretical discourse reveals, at the very least, an attempt to secure a privileged function for paternal authority, a longing for the (f/F)ather to rescue the subject from the chaos, lack and loss that the (m)Others desire generates. In this way, although not explicitly acknowledged in these terms, Lacans theory of the subject betrays a desire for the father that Freudian discourse willingly admits. What is missing from this account of alienation, desire and the phallus is any explicit recognition that the subject could experience the father as the desiring other. The logic of the Lacanian structural order demonstrates why this must be ruled out as a possibility. On the one hand, if the father could be the other who desires the subject, then the father would be recognised as lacking the phallus in the same way that the mother does. In Lacans system, desire signals lack; if the father is (also) a site of lack then the symbolic order will collapse because the Name-of-the-Father exists precisely as an answer to the ever-present, ever circulating lack signified by the phallus. On the other hand, if the father is either the source of a homoerotic desire for the son or the object of the sons homoerotic desire, then, given the sexual order that Lacan assumes and the dominant fiction presupposes, the actual father is distanced from the symbolic Father because of the kind of sexual desir e circling around him. Insofar as homoerotic desire flows between the father and son, psychosis inevitably results i.e., homoeroticism makes the subjects achievement of a self impossible. At the same time, the subjects quest for an un-alienated sense of self is fuelled by a desire to rest secure in relation to the Father and the Fathers Law. The longing for selfhood is discursively represented by Lacan as a captivation with the (F/f)ather that both is and cannot be homoerotic. Freuds representation of normative masculinity can keep homoerotic desire discursively alive because it strives to make the objective facts of biology that institute the heterosexual and patriarchal organisation of desire and identity appear natural and inevitable. The boy will always choose the penis; the penis signifies maleness and implies heterosexual desire. Because Lacans account of subjectivity does not take anatomy as its foundation, it cannot admit the possibility of homoerotic desire into the realm of masculine identity without revealing the arbitrary resolution of the alienating effects of signification in favour of the heterosexual and patriarchal status quo. If the boy finds himself in a universe comprised solely of others, lack and desire, then there must be some mechanism for fixing the relationship between some others, some lacks and some desires, if the gendered and sexualised division of power is to be maintained. Taking Freuds thoughts on mourning and melancholia as her primary texts, Judith Butler argues in Gender Trouble that the lost, repressed, perpetually unacknowledged, eternally mourned object of homosexual desire is necessary to the consolidation of masculinity and that a strong sense of oppositionally defined gender identity serves to maintain the lost homosexual object through a constant gesture of disavowal. Butler also demonstrates through a close reading of Freud and Lacan on the Oedipal complex that the social prohibition on homosexuality is transformed by their texts into a heterosexual disposition that provides heterosexual desire with a natural rather than cultural origin. More importantly, however, Butler concludes her discussion of the relationship between heterosexual desire and the lost homosexual object with a consideration of the relationship between disavowed homoerotic desire and the construction of the female subject. The woman-as-object must be the sign that [the masculine subject] not only never felt homosexual desire, but never felt the grief over its loss. Indeed, the woman-as-sign must effectively displace and conceal that preheterosexual history in favour of one that consecrates a seamless heterosexuality. Butler contends that the construction of the woman as a sexual object and the repression of the homosexual substratum of masculinity are implicated. Given this mutual implication, it seems that tracing the figuration of homoerotic desire in representations of normative masculinity has the potential to alter the construction of womens relationship to sexuality and subjectivity. This section began with the suspicion that there might be sites in psychoanalytic theory, in addition to discussions of masochism, where the dominant fiction regarding masculine subjectivity could be unsettled. Through a discussion of both Freuds and Lacans understandings of the masochism and the Oedipal complex, I have sought to map one of these sites, to trace the presence of homoeroticism in psychoanalytic representations of masculinity, even where it is absent from the explicit terms of the discourse. Attending to this homoerotic substratum of normative masculinity provides three critical insights for the larger questions motivating the dissertation. First, based on this account of the relationship between normative masculinity and homoerotic desire, we can understand why masculinity resists being the object rather than the agent of the gaze. Where the masculine subject is exposed to the gaze, erotic desire is never far behind. When erotic desire envelops the male body, it often renders that body capable of homoerotic contemplation or at least suggests the possibility of homoerotic contemplation of the male body generally. Such a presentation of the male body brings to conscious attention the thin, if not discernible, line between normative and homoerotic masculinity. Castration, loss, lack, otherness, visibility; these are the characteristics that the dominant fiction attempts to exclude from its articulation of masculine subjectivity. What makes this task of exclusion, repression and displacement nearly impossible is the conjunction of masculinitys dependence on display for securing its privileged position and spectacles tendency for exposing the lack inherent in masculinity as well as the dependency of masculinity on the other to retain its ascendant position. Masochistic fantasies help to secure the venerable and desirable status of the paternal figure, but they do this at the cost of demonstrating the dependence of masculine subjectivity on the ever-receding, unattainable love of a masculine other. Phallic visual displays often serve to align the penis with the phallus, but they also function to expose the insufficient and paltry nature of the organ when placed alongside the imaginary ground of its significance. Narratives of womans nature as irredeemably and essentially castrated, as naturally and inevitably passive in relation to male (heterosexual) desire certainly constrict the cultural possibilities available to female subjects, but they often reveal the desperate anxiety to disavow the narcissistic, homoerotic dimensions of masculine subjectivity. Representation poses a dilemma for masculinity: the display of its power is both necessary for the justification of its privileges and an essential feature of its demise. Freud and Lacan have attempted to cover up the cracks inimical to their own enunciative function in order to secure an authoritative position for masculine subjectivity; like even the most masterful artists, however, the discursive elements exceed their progenitors; the device is, more often than not, in many ways laid bare. The dominant fiction of masculine power, privilege and plenitude is both more resilient and more vulnerable than it might at first appear. This can make a political project that depends on hermeneutic intervention as its primary strategy, like the one pursued here, seem astonishingly naÃÆ'Â ¯ve and refreshingly incisive in turn. As such a hermeneutically grounded vision of political change assumes, revelation of the dominant fictions fictional and political character can be accomplished only by a close examination of the fictions terms and structures. To state this claim in the terms of the material under consideration, perversion is intelligible and identifiable only in relation to the Oedipal drama; subversion is accomplished primarily through a diagnostic, symptomatic and internal critique of the dominant fiction. This is not an empirical claim about the veracity or universality of the Oedipal structure, but rather a methodological claim about how best to do the work of transfor ming the dominant fictions regarding masculinity, femininity, and subjectivity. The structuring and definitional terms of the prevailing discourse must often be taken as the starting points for any oppositional discourse, for the sake of intelligibility, legitimacy, credibility, authority. This strategy of close, but subversive, reading will continue to guide my interpretation of other representations of masculinity and the male body. The political work of reconfiguring cultural fantasies about the meaning of masculinity will depend, at least initially, on the ability to re-signify the features of the relevant hegemonic discourses. Without expecting a completely new narrative outside the reigning signifying practices, this perspective is informed by a belief in the possibility of variable narratives using the terms of the dominant signification system to disturb the hegemonic understanding of masculine identity. Whether such hope is fantastic or delusional will be demonstrated in pa rt by the analysis of the next chapter, but can ultimately be confirmed only by the fantasies and practices that such interpretive interventions instigate. 2,447 words