Wonderlands in Flesh and Blood. Gender, the Body, Its Boundaries and Their Transgression in Clive Barker's "Imajica" by Christian Daumann Is Protected by Copyright
Wonderlands in Flesh and Blood. Gender, the body, its boundaries and their transgression in Clive Barker's "Imajica" by Christian Daumann is protected by copyright. Its content may be viewed or printed for personal, non-commercial use only. The excerpt is not to be modified, reproduced, transmitted, published or otherwise made available in whole or in part without the prior written consent of the publisher. © 2009 Martin Meidenbauer Verlagsbuchhandlung, Munich. 1 There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. Sir Francis Bacon, Of Beauty 2 Preface From the very beginning, the works of the British writer, director, painter and producer Clive Barker have become increasingly multifaceted. 1 Despite this, there is virtually no other motif that shapes Barker’s Œuvre more than the body and corporeality. This becomes evident in portrayals of explicit violence, sex between all gender combinations, as well as humans and non-humans, and the composition of bizarre creatures. The body is deconstructed physically as well as mentally. Bodies transform (and are transformed) and sexual unions are taken literally when two bodies merge to become one. However, Barker’s fiction is more than just “demystifying the body“. 2 Even though the early anthology The Books of Blood was labelled ‘splatterpunk,’ the motif of corporeality has become more subtle and complex and cannot be reduced to simply ‘sex and violence.’ The body is increasingly involved in gender-related topics, self-discovery and growing-up. This is also reflected by the fact that Barker is now a successful author of children’s novels as well.
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