La Rousse and the Tapestry Artist: Tracy Chevalier’s Liberation through Images and Colours

Art has always held a very ambiguous position in human society: on the one hand it has been exploited for promotional use and revered as a stand in for the entity it represents; on the other hand however, its ability to question dogmatic authorities by appealing to an individual’s innermost instinct...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Roxanne Barbara Doerr
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Zadar 2012-12-01
Series:[sic]
Online Access:http://www.sic-journal.org/ArticleView.aspx?aid=143
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849705324054839296
author Roxanne Barbara Doerr
author_facet Roxanne Barbara Doerr
author_sort Roxanne Barbara Doerr
collection DOAJ
description Art has always held a very ambiguous position in human society: on the one hand it has been exploited for promotional use and revered as a stand in for the entity it represents; on the other hand however, its ability to question dogmatic authorities by appealing to an individual’s innermost instincts and thoughts has made it a threatening and seditious force to be reckoned with. As a result, numerous studies on the impact of art and visions on society, authority, and our perception of reality, have emerged and taken many forms of interdisciplinary inquiry (it is sufficient to think of movements such as “literature and the visual arts”, “culture studies”, “cross-cultural image studies” or “law and imagery”, to mention a few). As a confirmation of this, the subversive power of art, in the form of suppressed colours and controversial portraits, is at the heart of two of Tracy Chevalier’s works, The Virgin Blue (1997) and The Lady and the Unicorn (2003). In both novels the protagonists’ lives are dominated by a strong patriarchal society that suppresses the voices of those who do not pertain to politically privileged categories. Art therefore is the force that leads the characters to leave the paths that had been assigned to them by custom and seek out their own future.
format Article
id doaj-art-556c2dbff14142a3a34c77b131779f72
institution DOAJ
issn 1847-7755
language English
publishDate 2012-12-01
publisher University of Zadar
record_format Article
series [sic]
spelling doaj-art-556c2dbff14142a3a34c77b131779f722025-08-20T03:16:31ZengUniversity of Zadar[sic]1847-77552012-12-013110.15291/SIC/1.3.LC.1143La Rousse and the Tapestry Artist: Tracy Chevalier’s Liberation through Images and ColoursRoxanne Barbara DoerrArt has always held a very ambiguous position in human society: on the one hand it has been exploited for promotional use and revered as a stand in for the entity it represents; on the other hand however, its ability to question dogmatic authorities by appealing to an individual’s innermost instincts and thoughts has made it a threatening and seditious force to be reckoned with. As a result, numerous studies on the impact of art and visions on society, authority, and our perception of reality, have emerged and taken many forms of interdisciplinary inquiry (it is sufficient to think of movements such as “literature and the visual arts”, “culture studies”, “cross-cultural image studies” or “law and imagery”, to mention a few). As a confirmation of this, the subversive power of art, in the form of suppressed colours and controversial portraits, is at the heart of two of Tracy Chevalier’s works, The Virgin Blue (1997) and The Lady and the Unicorn (2003). In both novels the protagonists’ lives are dominated by a strong patriarchal society that suppresses the voices of those who do not pertain to politically privileged categories. Art therefore is the force that leads the characters to leave the paths that had been assigned to them by custom and seek out their own future.http://www.sic-journal.org/ArticleView.aspx?aid=143
spellingShingle Roxanne Barbara Doerr
La Rousse and the Tapestry Artist: Tracy Chevalier’s Liberation through Images and Colours
[sic]
title La Rousse and the Tapestry Artist: Tracy Chevalier’s Liberation through Images and Colours
title_full La Rousse and the Tapestry Artist: Tracy Chevalier’s Liberation through Images and Colours
title_fullStr La Rousse and the Tapestry Artist: Tracy Chevalier’s Liberation through Images and Colours
title_full_unstemmed La Rousse and the Tapestry Artist: Tracy Chevalier’s Liberation through Images and Colours
title_short La Rousse and the Tapestry Artist: Tracy Chevalier’s Liberation through Images and Colours
title_sort la rousse and the tapestry artist tracy chevalier s liberation through images and colours
url http://www.sic-journal.org/ArticleView.aspx?aid=143
work_keys_str_mv AT roxannebarbaradoerr larousseandthetapestryartisttracychevaliersliberationthroughimagesandcolours