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Scholarly Embarrassment : On the Problems and Limitations of Feminist Scholars’ Search for Art’s Political Utility

Suneson, Ellen LU (2026) In Oyster 6. p.132-144
Abstract
In this essay I argue that with too few alternative approaches, the strong feminist epistemological habit of attending to the political utility of art risks placing representations of subjective narratives whose emancipatory qualities might be unclear or doubtful out of scholarly reach. Feminist art historian Irit Rogoff discusses how feminist art historians are inclined to acknowledge visual representations of particular types of corporeal vulnerabilities or dependencies as politically significant, while discarding others as vain, narcissistic, embarrassing, or uninteresting. Influenced by Rogoff’s observation, I discuss the performance Mr MEESE UND DIE LIEDER AUS DEM HERZEN #3 (Mr. MEESE AND THE SONGS FROM THE HEART #3) (2011), by... (More)
In this essay I argue that with too few alternative approaches, the strong feminist epistemological habit of attending to the political utility of art risks placing representations of subjective narratives whose emancipatory qualities might be unclear or doubtful out of scholarly reach. Feminist art historian Irit Rogoff discusses how feminist art historians are inclined to acknowledge visual representations of particular types of corporeal vulnerabilities or dependencies as politically significant, while discarding others as vain, narcissistic, embarrassing, or uninteresting. Influenced by Rogoff’s observation, I discuss the performance Mr MEESE UND DIE LIEDER AUS DEM HERZEN #3 (Mr. MEESE AND THE SONGS FROM THE HEART #3) (2011), by Malmö-based Swedish artist ­ Jenny Grönvall. Grönvall’s work portrays messy and complicated entanglements between a feminist artist and prejudiced models of value and meaning in the Northern European art field. Rather than presenting a conventional analysis of Grönvall’s performance, I dwell on moments where I experience embarrassment and discomfort during my process of writing. By lingering with these moments, I consider the analytical limits of the tendency to endow value on art based on a work’s potential to produce socially transformative effects. The essay considers the importance of studying representations of ambivalent gendered and corporeal experience in certain feminist works without quickly ascribing them with some form of political utility or lack thereof.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
methodology, method, embarrassnent, discomfort, feminism, art, performance, epistemology
host publication
Transformative Feminisms : Nordic Art in the Transcultural Present - Nordic Art in the Transcultural Present
series title
Oyster
editor
Greaves, Kerry and Thorsen Vilslev, Birgitte
volume
6
pages
132 - 144
publisher
De Gruyter
ISSN
2940-7265
ISBN
9783111332253
9783111332161
DOI
10.1515/9783111332253-008
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
498646c8-d6eb-4474-ae21-2632adfabd34
date added to LUP
2024-05-23 12:44:42
date last changed
2026-02-23 15:02:50
@inbook{498646c8-d6eb-4474-ae21-2632adfabd34,
  abstract     = {{In this essay I argue that with too few alternative approaches, the strong feminist epistemological habit of attending to the political utility of art risks placing representations of subjective narratives whose emancipatory qualities might be unclear or doubtful out of scholarly reach. Feminist art historian Irit Rogoff discusses how feminist art historians are inclined to acknowledge visual representations of particular types of corporeal vulnerabilities or dependencies as politically significant, while discarding others as vain, narcissistic, embarrassing, or uninteresting. Influenced by Rogoff’s observation, I discuss the performance Mr MEESE UND DIE LIEDER AUS DEM HERZEN #3 (Mr. MEESE AND THE SONGS FROM THE HEART #3) (2011), by Malmö-based Swedish artist ­ Jenny Grönvall. Grönvall’s work portrays messy and complicated entanglements between a feminist artist and prejudiced models of value and meaning in the Northern European art field. Rather than presenting a conventional analysis of Grönvall’s performance, I dwell on moments where I experience embarrassment and discomfort during my process of writing. By lingering with these moments, I consider the analytical limits of the tendency to endow value on art based on a work’s potential to produce socially transformative effects. The essay considers the importance of studying representations of ambivalent gendered and corporeal experience in certain feminist works without quickly ascribing them with some form of political utility or lack thereof.<br/><br/>}},
  author       = {{Suneson, Ellen}},
  booktitle    = {{Transformative Feminisms : Nordic Art in the Transcultural Present}},
  editor       = {{Greaves, Kerry and Thorsen Vilslev, Birgitte}},
  isbn         = {{9783111332253}},
  issn         = {{2940-7265}},
  keywords     = {{methodology; method; embarrassnent; discomfort; feminism; art; performance; epistemology}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{132--144}},
  publisher    = {{De Gruyter}},
  series       = {{Oyster}},
  title        = {{Scholarly Embarrassment : On the Problems and Limitations of Feminist Scholars’ Search for Art’s Political Utility}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783111332253-008}},
  doi          = {{10.1515/9783111332253-008}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}