Feminist Interventions on the Masculine Dominance of the Canon:  Questioning the Discourse of Femininity and ‘Legitimate’ Aesthetics in Artist Bodies by Shigeko Kubota and Şükran Moral

Tuğçe Arslan

Article Details

Feminist Interventions on the Masculine Dominance of the Canon: Questioning the Discourse of Femininity and ‘Legitimate’ Aesthetics in Artist Bodies by Shigeko Kubota and Şükran Moral

Authors:

Tuğçe Arslan

Publisher:

Ankara University

Main Topics:

Sosyoloji (Diğer)

Journal:

Fe Dergi Vol.16 Issue 2, pp.84-122

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

12/2024

Document Language:

Turkish

Document ID (Org No.):

2001333699

pISSN:

1309-128X

Keywords:

Abstract:

 The canon and canonization practice is built on the masculine gaze and its dominance in visual culture. The canon, which left the female artist and her work at the periphery of its own construction, across with feminism in the visual field as of the 1960s. Since this date, female body artists, who have performed performative productions with a feminist gesture, have been associated with the canon as a counter-attitude to the discursive and visual canon, even if they cannot create a new canon. This article re-reads the concept of canon with feminist theory and examines how the power and influence of the concept puts pressure on the marginalized female artist and her work. In this examine, the practices of Shigeko Kubota and Şükran Moral, who produce contrasting productions with masculine discourse and image culture, are evaluated at the point of meeting the canon and feminism. Kubota and Moral are two artists who have common interests in struggle the canon in different geographies and times. Moral, who made feminist productions in Turkey in the 1990s, transformed the female body into a place where femininity issues were discussed, as Kubota applied, and in this discussion, she took a stance against the canonical structuring in visual and traditional discourse.

 The canon and canonization practice is built on the masculine gaze and its dominance in visual culture. The canon, which left the female artist and her work at the periphery of its own construction, across with feminism in the visual field as of the 1960s. Since this date, female body artists, who have performed performative productions with a feminist gesture, have been associated with the canon as a counter-attitude to the discursive and visual canon, even if they cannot create a new canon. This article re-reads the concept of canon with feminist theory and examines how the power and influence of the concept puts pressure on the marginalized female artist and her work. In this examine, the practices of Shigeko Kubota and Şükran Moral, who produce contrasting productions with masculine discourse and image culture, are evaluated at the point of meeting the canon and feminism. Kubota and Moral are two artists who have common interests in struggle the canon in different geographies and times. Moral, who made feminist productions in Turkey in the 1990s, transformed the female body into a place where femininity issues were discussed, as Kubota applied, and in this discussion, she took a stance against the canonical structuring in visual and traditional discourse.

 The canon and canonization practice is built on the masculine gaze and its dominance in visual culture. The canon, which left the female artist and her work at the periphery of its own construction, across with feminism in the visual field as of the 1960s. Since this date, female body artists, who have performed performative productions with a feminist gesture, have been associated with the canon as a counter-attitude to the discursive and visual canon, even if they cannot create a new canon. This article re-reads the concept of canon with feminist theory and examines how the power and influence of the concept puts pressure on the marginalized female artist and her work. In this examine, the practices of Shigeko Kubota and Şükran Moral, who produce contrasting productions with masculine discourse and image culture, are evaluated at the point of meeting the canon and feminism. Kubota and Moral are two artists who have common interests in struggle the canon in different geographies and times. Moral, who made feminist productions in Turkey in the 1990s, transformed the female body into a place where femininity issues were discussed, as Kubota applied, and in this discussion, she took a stance against the canonical structuring in visual and traditional discourse.

 Kanon ve kanonlaşma pratiği eril bakış ve onun görsel kültürdeki tahakkümü üzerine inşa edilmiştir. Kadın sanatçıyı ve eserini kendi inşasının çeperinde bırakan kanon, 1960lı yıllar itibarıyla görsel alanda feminizm ile karşı karşıya gelmiştir. Bu tarihten itibaren feminist bir jestle performatif üretimler gerçekleştiren kadın beden sanatçıları, yeni bir kanon oluşturamasalar bile söylemsel ve görsel kanonla mücadele noktasında bir karşı tavır olarak kanonla ilişkilenmişlerdir. Bu makale, kanon kavramını feminist teoriyle yeniden okumaya almakta, kavramın gücü ve etkisinin marjinalize edilen kadın sanatçı ve onun eseri üzerinde nasıl bir baskı kurduğunu incelemektedir. Bu incelemede, eril söylem ve imge kültürüne tezat üretimler gerçekleştiren Shigeko Kubota ve Şükran Moralin pratikleri, kanonla feminizmin karşılaşması noktasında değerlendirilmektedir. Kubota ve Moral farklı coğrafyalarda ve zamanlarda kanonla savaşım konusunda ortaklıkları bulunan iki sanatçıdır. Türkiyede 1990lı yıllarda feminist üretimler gerçekleştiren Moral, Kubotanın başvurduğu şekilde kadın bedenini kadınlık meselelerinin tartışmaya açıldığı bir mecraya dönüştürmüş, bu tartışmada görsel ve geleneksel söylemdeki kanonik yapılanmaya karşı bir duruşu sergilemiştir.

Article Details

Feminist Interventions on the Masculine Dominance of the Canon: Questioning the Discourse of Femininity and ‘Legitimate’ Aesthetics in Artist Bodies by Shigeko Kubota and Şükran Moral

Authors:

Tuğçe Arslan

Publisher:

Ankara University

Main Topics:

Sosyoloji (Diğer)

Journal:

Fe Dergi Vol.16 Issue 2, pp.84-122

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

12/2024

Document Language:

Turkish

Document ID (Org No.):

2001333699

pISSN:

1309-128X

Canon

Feminism

Body Art

Şükran Moral

Shigeko KubotaKanon

Feminizm

Beden Sanatı

Şükran Moral

Shigeko Kubota

Issues

Article Details

Authors: Tuğçe Arslan

Publisher: Ankara University

Main Topics: Sosyoloji (Diğer)

Journal: Fe Dergi Vol.16 Issue 2, pp.84-122

Document Type: Article

Publication Date: 12/2024

Document Language: Turkish

Document ID (Org No.): 2001333699

pISSN: 1309-128X

Issues

Authors:

Tuğçe Arslan

Publisher:

Ankara University

Main Topics:

Sosyoloji (Diğer)

Journal:

Fe Dergi Vol.16 Issue 2, pp.84-122

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

12/2024

Document Language:

Turkish

Document ID (Org No.):

2001333699

pISSN:

1309-128X