Reading Claude Cahun's Disavowals

Jennifer L. Shaw is Professor of Art History in the Department of Art and Art History at Sonoma State University, USA.

• Contents: Introduction: exist otherwise; Refiguring romance; Narcissus and the magic mirror; Reimagining art and (homo)sexuality: against idealization; Mirrors of femininity, sensuality, and desire; Games, dreams, and Surrealism; Conclusion: after Disavowals; Bibliography; Index.

'Reading Claude Cahun’s Disavowals nous permet ainsi de recadrer le mouvement surréaliste, de mieux comprendre ses répercussions au cours de l’histoire, et de mieux mesurer son ampleur.' Contemporary French Civilization 'Shaw contributes to our understanding of a text that appears at times intriguingly exploratory, at others frustratingly elliptical. The strength of her study lies in the detailed analyses of the photo-montages and their relations to the text, which order Cahun's multiple voices as a coherent whole.' French Studies 'Shaw’s book, with its detailed and meticulous contextualized readings of both the photomontages and texts in Disavowals, will be a major addition to the slim list of in-depth studies of photographic books.' CAA Reviews