Abstract
M.A .
The nude is generally approached as a historical and cultural product of specific societies, while a generic conception of the nude as a genre of gendered art (Gill Saunders, 1989), rather than as form (Kenneth Clark, 1956) is more vaguely perceived in underlying assumptions in texts on the nude, and the works themselves. The tradition of the nude is extremely varied, and complex. My purpose is not to unify or simplify this tradition. Any nude is never one thing alone, but is subject to interpretation. The nude, largely through recent feminist interpretations, has come to fulfil the role of trustee for alterity (Lynda Nead, 1992). By considering the main typologies in which the nude has been studied and interpreted, I hope to show the importance and significance of gender in art, aesthetics, and finally, philosophy. The significance of this thesis is to confront the antagonism between traditional and contemporary feminist issues and that of the standard patriarchal tradition. In this regard the nude is an interesting and rewarding genre of the expression of gender, as it deals with the delicate concerns of this category. The central problematic of the research is the question of gender. On an epistemological level, feminism 'introduces' the category of gender, which subverts and challenges all previous conceptions of the human subject. While I wish to bear in mind the history of oppression through the neglect and negation of the category of gender,
I also recognise the vital importance of moving beyond this structure by proposing the
celebration of plurality through more life-affirming readings of nudity in art. Although femeneutics may sound idiosyncratic, I propose to use the term as shorthand for
feminist studies combined with a hermeneutic approach.