Haigh, Samantha. (2010) 'Changer le regard'? Disability and difference in the photography of Delphine Censier. Modern & Contemporary France, Vol.18 (No.3). pp. 291-308. ISSN 0963-9489

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Abstract

Having historically lagged behind most Western countries on matters relating to disability, France now seems poised on the brink of a new era in the provision for, and attitudes to, people with disabilities. This article begins with a brief examination of the political context of this recent change, including the new anti-discrimination law of 2005, the positions of both Chirac and Sarkozy, and the recent work of Julia Kristeva. Since one of Kristeva's main aims is to change the way in which disability is seen, this article goes on to examine in detail the photographic work of Delphine Censier, a woman with disabilities who is also concerned with changing perceptions of disability, and making possible a new relationship between people with and without impairments. Censier's workwhich pictures her in lingerie and in sexually suggestive posesappears problematic, at first glance, from both a feminist and a disability theory perspective. Using the work of US disability theorists such as Rosemarie Garland Thomson and Robert McRuer, however, this article argues that Censier's work in fact self-consciously performs disabled sexuality in a nuanced and insistently non-normative manner and, in so doing, goes a long way to fostering the new perspectives on disability that Kristeva's own work, alone, could not. En ce qui concerne les attitudes envers le handicap, la France a toujours ete consideree comme etant en retard par rapport a d'autres pays occidentaux. Pourtant, une nouvelle epoque semble actuellement se preparer dans ce domaine. Cet article examine d'abord le contexte politique de cette nouvelle attitude, evoquant notamment la loi de 2005 sur l'egalite des chances; les positions et de Chirac et de Sarkozy, et le travail recent de Julia Kristeva. L'un des buts principaux de Kristeva est de changer la facon dont on regarde les personnes en situation de handicap. Ainsi, cet article examine en detail le travail photographique de Delphine Censier, une femme en situation de handicap qui veut, comme Kristeva, changer le regard des 'valides' vis-a-vis du handicap, et qui veut aussi imaginer de nouveaux rapports entre ceux qui sont en situation de handicap et ceux qui ne le sont pas. Dans ses photographies, Censier porte de la lingerie et se montre volontairement seduisante. Considerees sous un aspect feministe, ou bien selon les principes de ce que le monde anglo-saxon appelle 'disability theory', ces photographies presentent des problemes d'interpretation. Pourtant, a l'aide du travail des theoriciens americains Rosemarie Garland Thomson et Robert McRuer, cet article se propose de demontrer que le travail de Censier est performatif, qu'il interroge, consciemment, les normes sexuelles du monde 'valide' dans le but de lui montrer que sa perception de la 'sexualite handicapee' devrait etre beaucoup plus nuancee. De cette maniere, l'OEuvre de Censier ajoute une autre perspective a la critique de Kristeva, suscitant de nouvelles interpretations 'visuelles' de la personne handicapee.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	D History General and Old World
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts > French Studies
Journal or Publication Title:	Modern & Contemporary France
Publisher:	Routledge
ISSN:	0963-9489
Date:	2010
Volume:	Vol.18
Number:	No.3
Number of Pages:	18
Page Range:	pp. 291-308
Identification Number:	10.1080/09639489.2010.493930
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/5500

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