The Pornography of Representation

This book marks a radical and powerful intervention in traditionalarguments about pornography. Kappeler re-examines the artisticdistinctions between fantasy and reality, pornography and erotica, and challenges the legal definition of obscenity as well as theintellectual defence of 'freedom of expression'. By linking imagesof actual violence with the imaginative portrayal of women in therealm of the aesthetic, she establishes vital connections betweenmodes of representation and social forms of power and domination.

It is essential reading for anyone concerned with issues ofpornography and sexual politics and related debates in literarycriticism and cultural studies.