Description
This project studies the patterns in which the Medusa myth shapes, constructs, and transforms new meanings of women today, correlating portrayals in ancient Greek myth, nineteenth- century Symbolist painting, and new, controversial, visions of women in contemporary art.
The myth of the Medusa has long been the ultimate symbol of woman as monster. With her roots in classical mythology, Medusa has appeared time and again throughout history and culture and this book studies the patterns in which the Medusa myth shapes, constructs, and transforms new meanings of women today. Hedgecock presents an interdisciplinary and broad historical “cultural reflections” of the modern Medusa, including the work of Maria Callas, Nan Goldin, the Symbolist painters and twentieth-century poets.
This timely and necessary work will be key reading for students and researchers specializing in mythology or gender studies across a variety of fields, touching on interdisciplinary research in feminist theory, art history and theory, cultural studies, and psychology.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The shadow in the glass
Part I The myth
1 The modern Medusa
2 The historical and mythical origins of Medusa
3 Symbolism in the Medusa myth: The decapitated head of Medusa
Part II Symbolist interpretations of Medusa
4 Jean Delville and The Idol of Perversity
5 Medusean images in paintings by Franz von Stuck
6 Edvard Munch and the fatal woman of Medusa
Part III Medusa in the twenty-first century: Identifying the woman in the mirror
7 Nan Goldin and a new vision of Medusa
8 Liz Craft and the all knowing "I"
