The Pornography of Representation

This book marks a radical and powerful intervention in traditional arguments about pornography. Kappeler re-examines the artistic distinctions between fantasy and reality, pornography and erotica, and challenges the legal definition of obscenity as well as the intellectual defence of 'freedom of expression'. By linking images of actual violence with the imaginative portrayal of women in the realm of the aesthetic, she establishes vital connections between modes of representation and social forms of power and domination. It is essential reading for anyone concerned with issues of pornography and sexual politics and related debates in literary criticism and cultural studies.

Acknowledgements vii Preamble 1 Problem 1 Fact and Fiction 5 Problem 2 Human Rights 11 Problem 3 Obscenity and Censorship 18 Problem 4 Porn vs Erotica 35 Problem 5 Subjects, Objects and Equal Opportunities 49 Problem 6 Why Look at Women? 63 Problem 7 Art and Pornography 82 Problem 8 The Literary and the Production of Value 101 Problem 9 The Book Business 123 Problem 10 Playing in the Literary Sanctuary 133 Problem 11 Collaboration 148 Problem 12 Communication 167 Problem 13 Sex/Sexuality 196 Postscript 212 Practical Perspectives 220 Notes 223 Index 239