Artemisia's Revenge: Rape and Art in the Work of Jean-Luc Nancy

Abstract

This paper draws its inspiration from Artemisia Gentileschi, who was both a survivor of rape and a painter of rape. It argues that in the work of Jean-Luc Nancy, images of violence structurally oppose physical occurrences of violence by reestablishing the importance of the victim of violence, and by bringing violence back into the realm of meaningful speech. Nancy’s thought indicates that artists in general, and Artemisia Gentileschi in particular, can resist the force of violence through the artistic depiction of violence.