Performativity in Buñuel's The Phantom of Liberty and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

Author: Izurieta, Ibon¹

Source: The Modern Language Review, Volume 103, Number 3, 1 July 2008 , pp. 753-766(14)

Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association

Key:

- Free Content

- New Content

- Subscribed Content

- Free Trial Content

Abstract:

The theory of performativity, as proposed by Judith Butler in Bodies That Matter, offers the analytical framework that elucidates Surrealism's undermining of intelligibility. The present analysis studies Luis Buñuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Phantom of Liberty by applying the theory of performativity to the Spanish director's revolutionary ways of representation. Buñuel's exploration of alternative semiological methods of signification based on the icon is intended to subvert narrative as the traditional method of communication. Performativity's study of the normative nature of intelligibility contributes the theoretical framework to Buñuel's surrealist and iconoclastic artistic innovations.

Keywords: Theory of performativity; Judith Butler; Bodies That Matter; Surrealism; Luis Buñuel; The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie; The Phantom of Liberty

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: University of Colorado at Denver

The full text electronic article is available for purchase. You will be able to download the full text electronic article after payment.

$22.00 plus tax Refund Policy