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______________________________________________________________________ The "Zeitschrift für
Semiotik": Abstracts ______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________ Dagmar Schmauks and Friedemann Pfäfflin Dagmar Schmauks Features Enclosure Investigation
Friedemann Pfäfflin, University of Ulm Summary. Transgression of gender boundaries has been reported from various epochs.
Transsexualism, however, is a rather recent phenomenon with a history dating back just
about a century. This article outlines some of the most influential factors contributing
to its definition and performance. The sciences (medicine, psychology, legal science) had
to develop new terminologies in order to adequately describe the discrepancy between an
individual's own definition as male or female and his or her female or male body,
respectively. At the same time, treatment was improved; the combination of
psychiatric-psychotherapeutic support with hormonal and surgical intervention has made sex
reassignment possible with objectively convincing and subjectively gratifying results.
Both of these developments interact with the self-conception of the person involved.
Current terminology referring to sex reassignment is listed and explained and the
clinician's perception of practical aspects of sex reassignment is exemplified. Gender sign: the role of artefacts in sex change Dagmar Schmauks, Technical University Berlin Summary. In contrast to many species of animals, a human individual is, in the standard
case, a continuous member of one of two sexes. With respect to these sexes, each culture
(a) differentiates the sign systems which regulate the appearance and behavior of each
individual and (b) defines the individual's status in society. Such differentiation can
cause certain individuals to want to change their sex (or gender). This article begins by
proving through the use of examples that changing sex (or gender) is only one of several
possible means for altering bodily appearance. These possibilities can be classified with
regard to their motives and methods as well as to the duration of the change. Based on
this typology, artifacts are investigated which contribute significantly to the process
resulting in a temporary or permanent sex (or gender) change. All layers enveloping the
body are fashioned according to the code of the desired gender: for example, skin, hair,
jewelry, clothes, and the abode. However, the body itself can become an artifact which not
only contains artificial components but is also fashioned as a whole. Gender sign: the role of discourse in the (re)construction of transsexualism Annette Runte, University Polytechnic Siegen Autobiography Waltraud Schiffels, Saarbrücken Abject art as discourse about the sexes Summary. In the abject art of the 1990s, bodily fluids have come to function as signs
of gender. Yet, what these signs signify in women's artwork is not quite clear. According
to current psycho-semiotic theory, female artists use bodily fluids to express their
attitudes towards the father's law and the mother's body. It is claimed that while male
artists mock this law, female artists primarily investigate the maternal body and the way
it is repressed by the paternal law. However credible this explanation may be, it is
considered here to be insufficient and, therefore, unsatisfactory. For example, in the
abject art of Kiki Smith, Rona Pondick, and Cindy Sherman, bodily fluids and sexually
loaded issues are also used to represent the situation of female artists in society.
Moreover, they comment on the way gender issues are dealt with in the work of male
artists. It is therefore argued that the work of female artists within the realm of abject
art should be approached as a kind of meta-discourse. A caricature of transsexualism Mihály Riszovannij and Dagmar Schmauks, Technical University Berlin Summary. Cartoons often present male politicians as females. Based on a limited corpus,
the authors develop a typology of the examples which occur. They investigate which sign
systems (from body language to clothing) are especially suited for this pictorial type of
gender switching. Furthermore, various functions of such portrayals are distinguished,
which range from the strengthening of group identity to aggressive slander. |
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