Elisabeth Bronfen

This innovative book transforms how we understand Shakespeare's creative universe and enduring relevance. Rather than looking at the plays in isolation, Elisabeth Bronfen treats seriality as the organizing principle in Shakespeare’s works, revealing how Shakespeare’s dramatic universe operates through recurring formulas travelling between plays. Each chapter tracks a thematic series, nocturnal scenes, hallucinations and spectral apparitions; the trafficking in secrets and the culture of surveillance it produces; to the folly of love and the reversal of desire into contempt; the cyclical interplay between war and peace; the anxieties and fantasies that queenship raises; cross-dressing; the corpse as a body of evidence; objects – bloody cloths, jewels, letters and chopped of heads – that serve as actors in their own right; and final words. This will be illuminating reading for students and scholars in Shakespeare studies, as well as a wider audience interested in more philosophically oriented discussions of Shakespeare and those interested in issues of seriality. With the concept of “serial reading” as a novel form of literary interpretation, it will also be of interest to those in the wider field of literary and cultural theory.

This innovative book transforms how we understand Shakespeare's creative universe and enduring relevance. Rather than looking at the plays in isolation, Elisabeth Bronfen treats seriality as the organizing principle in Shakespeare’s works, revealing how Shakespeare’s dramatic universe operates through recurring formulas travelling between plays. Each chapter tracks a thematic series, nocturnal scenes, hallucinations and spectral apparitions; the trafficking in secrets and the culture of surveillance it produces; to the folly of love and the reversal of desire into contempt; the cyclical interplay between war and peace; the anxieties and fantasies that queenship raises; cross-dressing; the corpse as a body of evidence; objects – bloody cloths, jewels, letters and chopped of heads – that serve as actors in their own right; and final words. This will be illuminating reading for students and scholars in Shakespeare studies, as well as a wider audience interested in more philosophically oriented discussions of Shakespeare and those interested in issues of seriality. With the concept of “serial reading” as a novel form of literary interpretation, it will also be of interest to those in the wider field of literary and cultural theory.

The English artist Monster Chetwynd (b. 1973 in London) rose to international fame with her carnivalesque performances, reminiscent of medieval mysteries and carnival games, that draw on themes from art history and popular culture. In 2012, she was the first performance artist to be nominated for the prestigious Turner Prize, and to this day her work occupies one of the most influential positions in the field of contemporary performance. Chetwynd's artistic work, however, encompasses much more: she works with painting and sculpture, installations and films. Her artistic practice is informed by the invocation and combination of a wide range of culturally based sources. She creates something new, often combining humor with curiosity, and seeks out collaborations - these are the most striking characteristics of her work. The exhibition at Kunsthaus Zurich is the first comprehensive presentation of Monster Chetwynd's work in Switzerland. More than sixty pieces from the last twenty-five years are on display in an immersive exhibition architecture. The book accompanying the exhibition The Trompe L' Oeil Cleavage presents the diversity of the artist's work in an aesthetic form.

New works by the acclaimed painter In her painterly and graphic oeuvre, the renowned British artist Jenny Saville explores the centuries-old tradition of representing the human body. Her figures occupy an ambiguous zone between idealization and deconstruction. Drawing inspiration from the annals of art history— from Old Masters such as Leonardo and Raphael through to Egon Schiele, Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon, and Lucian Freud—Saville's painterly practice is characterized by physicality, carnality, and the interplay between new and old media. Whether she is depicting history, the bodies of others, or indeed her own, Jenny Saville's work explores what it means to be human.

Shakespeare is everywhere in contemporary media culture. This book explores the reasons for this dissemination and reassemblage. Ranging widely over American TV drama, it discusses the use of citations in Westworld and The Wire, demonstrating how they tap into but also transform Shakespeare’s preferred themes and concerns. It then examines the presentation of female presidents in shows such as Commander in Chief and House of Cards, revealing how they are modelled on figures of female sovereignty from his plays. Finally, it analyses the specifically Shakespearean dramaturgy of Deadwood and The Americans. Ultimately, the book brings into focus the way serial TV drama appropriates Shakespeare in order to give voice to the unfinished business of the American cultural imaginary.

If ever an art ¬ museum is transformed into a fashion show, then Sylvie Fleury definitely is the guest. For around twenty-five years, the artist has wittily ¬ explored gender clich s and the stereotypes of consumer society. Kunst Museum Winterthur is presenting Shoplifters from Venus , the first ¬ comprehensive solo exhibition of the Geneva artist in Switzerland in fifteen years, in which she seeks a dialogue with modernism while revealing its masculine character with great relish. This forthcoming book is more than just an exhibition catalogue: it follows the development of the artist's work on the basis of all her solo exhibi¬ tions since the 1990s. Essays by Simon Baier, Konrad Bitterli, and Elisabeth Bronfen illuminate ¬ selected aspects of her work, which over the years has lost little of its contentious poignancy and emancipatory power.

"Crossmappings" here collects for the first time a selection of distinguished literary and art critic, Elisabeth Bronfen's highly praised essays on visual culture for a wider public, many of which have never before been available in English. Among Bronfen's subjects are Edgar Degas's portraits of women and the female nude; pop culture and cinema; and hysteria and culture--included throughout are color images that support and illustrate her ideas. She also presents essays on great twentieth century artists, such as Salvador Dali, Marcel Duchamp, and Frida Kahlo, and key figures of contemporary art, including Louise Bourgeois, Cindy Sherman, Pipilotti Rist, and Paul McCarthy. In addition, "Crossmappings" includes a comparative examination of the photographs of Diane Arbus, Nan Goldin, and Nobuyoshi Araki. In a new introductory essay, Bronfen reflects on the deep changes in current visual culture and its significance within our everyday life. Offering fascinating and unparalleled insight into artists and their work, "Crossmappings" is a triumph of acute intelligence spanning a wide-range of subjects that will interest scholars of visual culture, and artists and art lovers alike. "An admirably rigorous study of the intricate ties between artistic representation, femininity, and death, Elisabeth Bronfen's "Over Her Dead Body "stands as a comprehensive must-read in her field. . . . Her readings are fully engaged, often seductive, always provocative. "--Pat E. Boyer, University of Tulsa

The influential cultural critic Elisabeth Bronfen sets out in this book a conversation between literature, cinema, and visual culture. The crossmappings in and between these essays address the cultural survival of image formulas involving portraiture and the uncanny relation between the body and its representability, the gendering of war, death and the fragility of life, as well as sovereignty and political power.Each chapter tracks transformations that occur as aesthetic figurations travel not only from one historical moment to the next, but also from one medium to another. Following Bronfen on these journeys into the cultural imaginary, the reader encounters prominent artists such as Edgar Degas, Francesca Woodman, Paul McCarthy, Eva Hesse, Louise Bourgeois, Richard Wagner, Pablo Picasso and William Shakespeare, alongside Classical Hollywood's film noir and melodrama, and the TV series The Wire and House of Cards.

Shakespeare is everywhere in contemporary media culture. This book explores the reasons for this dissemination and reassemblage. Ranging widely over American TV drama, it discusses the use of citations in Westworld and The Wire, demonstrating how they tap into but also transform Shakespeare’s preferred themes and concerns. It then examines the presentation of female presidents in shows such as Commander in Chief and House of Cards, revealing how they are modelled on figures of female sovereignty from his plays. Finally, it analyses the specifically Shakespearean dramaturgy of Deadwood and The Americans. Ultimately, the book brings into focus the way serial TV drama appropriates Shakespeare in order to give voice to the unfinished business of the American cultural imaginary.

Winner of the 2020 Gourmand Awards, Translation Section, USA Even the most brilliant minds have to eat. And for some scholars, food preparation is more than just a chore; it’s a passion. In this unique culinary memoir and cookbook, renowned cultural critic Elisabeth Bronfen tells of her lifelong love affair with cooking and demonstrates what she has learned about creating delicious home meals. She recounts her cherished food memories, from meals eaten at the family table in postwar Germany to dinner parties with friends. Yet, in a thoughtful reflection on the pleasures of cooking for one, she also reveals that some of her favorite meals have been consumed alone. Though it contains more than 250 mouth-watering recipes, Obsessed is anything but a conventional cookbook. As she shares a lifetime of knowledge acquired in the kitchen, Bronfen hopes to empower both novice and experienced home chefs to improvise, giving them hints on how to tweak her recipes to their own tastes. And unlike cookbooks that assume readers have access to an unlimited pantry, this book is grounded in reality, offering practical advice about food storage and reusing leftovers. As Bronfen serves up her personal stories and her culinary wisdom, reading Obsessed is like sitting down to a home-cooked meal with a clever friend.

The great, influential cultural critic, Elisabeth Bronfen, sets out in this book a conversation between literature, cinema and visual culture. The crossmappings facilitated in and between these essays address the cultural survival of image formulas involving portraiture and the uncanny relation between the body and its visual representability, the gendering of war, death and the fragility of life, as well as sovereignty and political power. Each chapter tracks transformations that occur as aesthetic figurations travel from one historical moment to another, but also from one medium to another. Many prominent artists are discussed during these journeys into the cultural imaginary, include Degas, Francesca Woodman, Cindy Sherman, Paul McCarthy, Eva Hesse, Louise Bourgeois, Wagner, Picasso, and Shakespeare, as well as classic Hollywood's film noir and melodrama and the TV series, The Wire and House of Cards.

Matthew Weiner's Emmy-winning series Mad Men has earned wide critical acclaim in its seven seasons. What is it about these impeccably dressed men and women of midcentury Madison Avenue that fascinates us? Decades later, when Weiner's iconic characters seem as much a thing of the past as the workday martini, why is it so easy for modern viewers to commiserate with the reserved but ambitious Peggy Olson, to jeer at Pete Campbell, and to cheer on Don Draper in his often indecorous struggles? We are drawn to Mad Men's dapper cast of characters, argues Elisabeth Bronfen, because, although the series has drawn praise for its depiction of the 1960s and '70s, it speaks equally well to cultural concerns of the present. The prototypical con man, Don makes a precarious journey from poverty to fame and prosperity that maps the pursuit of moral perfectionism that features prominently throughout American cultural history. Yet a lingering sense of dissatisfaction hints that the lifestyle Don strives for may be a mere manifestation of the illusory American dream-cemented in the same collective desires Don draws on to advertise cigarettes and luxury cars by day. "Mad Men," Death and the American Dream takes readers through the cultural fantasies that underlie characters' motivations in this sophisticated and immensely popular television series, showing how-then as now-we turn to fantasy in the face of conflicts that cannot be resolved in political reality. Fascinating and full of accessible insights, the book will appeal to the show's many fans, as well as anyone interested in American studies, media studies, or cultural history.

Surrealist writer Andre Breton praised hysteria for being the greatest poetic discovery of the nineteenth century, but many physicians have since viewed it as the "wastebasket of medicine," a psychosomatic state that defies attempts at definition and cure and that can be easily mistaken for other pathological conditions. In light of a resurgence of critical interest in hysteria, leading feminist scholar Elisabeth Bronfen reinvestigates medical writings and cultural performance to reveal the continued relevance of a disorder widely thought to be a romantic formulation of the past. Through a critical rereading, she develops a new concept of hysteria, one that challenges traditional gender-based theories linking it to dissatisfied feminine sexual desire. Bronfen turns instead to hysteria's traumatic causes, particularly the fear of violation, and shows how the conversion of psychic anguish into somatic symptoms can be interpreted today as the enactment of personal and cultural discontent. Tracing the development of cultural formations of hysteria from the 1800s to the present, this book explores the writings of Freud, Charcot, and Janet together with fictional texts (Radcliffe, Stoker, Anne Sexton), opera (Mozart, Wagner), cinema (Cronenberg, Hitchcock, Woody Allen), and visual art (Marie-Ange Guilleminot, Cindy Sherman). Each of these creative works attests to a particular relationship between hysteria and self-fashioning, and enables us to read hysteria quite literally as a language of discontent. The message broadcasted by the hysteric is one of vulnerability: vulnerability of the symbolic, of identity, and of the human body itself. Throughout this work, Bronfen not only offers fresh approaches to understanding hysteria in our culture, but also introduces a new metaphor to serve as a theoretical tool. Whereas the phallus has long dominated psychoanalytical discourse, the image of the navel--a knotted originary wound common to both genders--facilitates discussion of topics relevant to hysteria, such as trauma, mortality, and infinity. Bronfen's insights make for a lively, innovative work sure to interest readers across the fields of art and literature, feminism, and psychology. Originally published in 1998. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Surrealist writer Andre Breton praised hysteria for being the greatest poetic discovery of the nineteenth century, but many physicians have since viewed it as the "wastebasket of medicine," a psychosomatic state that defies attempts at definition and cure and that can be easily mistaken for other pathological conditions. In light of a resurgence of critical interest in hysteria, leading feminist scholar Elisabeth Bronfen reinvestigates medical writings and cultural performance to reveal the continued relevance of a disorder widely thought to be a romantic formulation of the past. Through a critical rereading, she develops a new concept of hysteria, one that challenges traditional gender-based theories linking it to dissatisfied feminine sexual desire. Bronfen turns instead to hysteria's traumatic causes, particularly the fear of violation, and shows how the conversion of psychic anguish into somatic symptoms can be interpreted today as the enactment of personal and cultural discontent. Tracing the development of cultural formations of hysteria from the 1800s to the present, this book explores the writings of Freud, Charcot, and Janet together with fictional texts (Radcliffe, Stoker, Anne Sexton), opera (Mozart, Wagner), cinema (Cronenberg, Hitchcock, Woody Allen), and visual art (Marie-Ange Guilleminot, Cindy Sherman). Each of these creative works attests to a particular relationship between hysteria and self-fashioning, and enables us to read hysteria quite literally as a language of discontent. The message broadcasted by the hysteric is one of vulnerability: vulnerability of the symbolic, of identity, and of the human body itself. Throughout this work, Bronfen not only offers fresh approaches to understanding hysteria in our culture, but also introduces a new metaphor to serve as a theoretical tool. Whereas the phallus has long dominated psychoanalytical discourse, the image of the navel--a knotted originary wound common to both genders--facilitates discussion of topics relevant to hysteria, such as trauma, mortality, and infinity. Bronfen's insights make for a lively, innovative work sure to interest readers across the fields of art and literature, feminism, and psychology. Originally published in 1998. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Specters of War looks at the way war has been brought to the screen in various genres and at different historical moments throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. Elisabeth Bronfen asserts that Hollywood has emerged as a place where national narratives are created and circulated so that audiences can engage with fantasies, ideologies, and anxieties that take hold at a given time, only to change with the political climate.Such cultural reflection is particularly poignant when it deals with America’s traumatic history of war. The nation has no direct access to war as a horrific experience of carnage and human destruction; we understand our relation to it through images and narratives that transmit and interpret it for us. Bronfen does not discuss actual conflicts but the films by which we have come to know and remember them, including All Quiet on the Western Front, The Best Years of Our Lives, Miracle at St. Anna, The Deer Hunter, and Flags of Our Fathers. Battles and campaigns, the home front and women-who-wait narratives, war correspondents, and court martials are also explored as instruments of cultural memory. Bronfen argues that we are haunted by past wars and by cinematic re-conceptualizations of them, and reveals a national iconography of redemptive violence from which we seem unable to escape.

Specters of War looks at the way war has been brought to the screen in various genres and at different historical moments throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. Elisabeth Bronfen asserts that Hollywood has emerged as a place where national narratives are created and circulated so that audiences can engage with fantasies, ideologies, and anxieties that take hold at a given time, only to change with the political climate.Such cultural reflection is particularly poignant when it deals with America’s traumatic history of war. The nation has no direct access to war as a horrific experience of carnage and human destruction; we understand our relation to it through images and narratives that transmit and interpret it for us. Bronfen does not discuss actual conflicts but the films by which we have come to know and remember them, including All Quiet on the Western Front, The Best Years of Our Lives, Miracle at St. Anna, The Deer Hunter, and Flags of Our Fathers. Battles and campaigns, the home front and women-who-wait narratives, war correspondents, and court martials are also explored as instruments of cultural memory. Bronfen argues that we are haunted by past wars and by cinematic re-conceptualizations of them, and reveals a national iconography of redemptive violence from which we seem unable to escape.