Graduation Year
2020
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Art History
Second Department
Art
Reader 1
Mary MacNaughton
Reader 2
Melanie Nakaue
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
@2020 Alexandra M Varga
Abstract
This thesis explores the relationship between Surrealist photographer Hans Bellmer’s first book, The Doll, and late 19th and early 20th century pornography. Two copies of The Doll from 1934 and 1936, the German and French publication dates, are analyzed to track the effects of changing censorship laws on Bellmer’s publication process. The historical context of Weimar Berlin and 1930s Paris are utilized to examine the visual similarities between pornographic media of the era and The Doll. These similarities have been largely ignored in previous scholarly study, excluding a major source of visual analysis. The pornographic media discussed will give background to Bellmer's infamous depictions of his pubescent doll.
Recommended Citation
Varga, Alexandra M., "Softcore Surrealism: Inserting Hans Bellmer's The Doll into the History of Pornography" (2020). Scripps Senior Theses. 1566.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/1566
