Natalya Lusty Livres

The book delves into the responses of women artists and intellectuals to the appropriation of femininity in Surrealism and psychoanalysis. By analyzing the works of figures like Leonora Carrington and Cindy Sherman alongside prominent theorists such as Georges Bataille and Jacques Lacan, it reveals the complexities and contradictions surrounding feminine representation in these artistic movements. Through historical and cultural lenses, it highlights the nuanced interplay between gender and artistic expression.

This groundbreaking study is a history of the dream as a fundamental aspect of identity and culture from the mid-nineteenth century, to the late twentieth century. Drawing on a complex and diverse archive, including popular dream books, lectures, novels, poems, visual media, diaries, letters, scholarly texts, and newspaper and journal articles, Dreams and Modernity analyses how the explosion of interest in dreams informed the psychic, imaginative and intimate life of the modern subject. The unauthorized nature of dream material and its formulation as a "history from below" makes it singularly illuminating for a broader cultural history of this period.

Focusing on dreams as a key element of identity and culture, this study spans from the mid-nineteenth to the late twentieth century. It utilizes a diverse range of sources, including literature, visual media, and personal writings, to explore how the fascination with dreams shaped the inner lives of individuals during modernity. By presenting a "history from below," it offers unique insights into the cultural significance of dreams and their impact on the psyche and imagination of the era.