Routledge Art, Nation and Gender: Ethnic Landscapes, Myths and Mother-Figures (Routledge Revivals)

This title was first published in 2003. The essay collection explores the conjunctions of nation, gender, and visual representation in a number of countries-including Ireland, Scotland, Britain, Canada, Finland, Russia and Germany-during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The contributors show visual imagery to be a particularly productive focus for analysing the intersections of nation and gender, since the nation and nationalism, as abstract concepts, have to be "embodied" in ways that make them imaginable, especially through the means of art. They explore how allegorical female figures personify the nation across a wide range of visual media, from sculpture to political cartoons and how national architectures may also be gendered. They show how through such representations, art reveals the ethno-cultural bases of nationalisms. Through the study of such images, the essays in this volume cast new light on the significance of gender in the construction of nationalist ideology and the constitution of the nation-state. In tackling the conjunctions of nation, gender and visual representation, the case studies presented in this publication can be seen to provide exciting new perspectives on the study of nations, of gender and the history of art. The range of countries chosen and the variety of images scrutinised create a broad arena for further debate. Review '... valuable collection of accessible yet in-depth and informative essays...' Suzanna Chan, Science Direct '... relevant not only for art historians but for students of nationalism and gender across a variety of disciplines as well.' Susan M. Digiacomo, Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism About the Author Tricia Cusack, Convenor of the Humanities Curriculum Development and Research Group and Lecturer in History of Art, Architecture and Design School of Continuing Studies, University of Birmingham, UK. Sighle Bhreathnach-Lynch, Curator of Irish painting at the National Gallery of Ireland, Ireland.