"It was perfect": Desire, corporeality, and denial in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan"

The acquisition of a corporeal sense of self, central to the formation of a balanced identity, is often barred in the Western world by women’s internalization of somatophohia. Drawing on theories of gender and corporeality, my contribution focuses on the representation and implications of eating dis...

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Author: Calvo Pascual, Mónica
Format: article
Publication Date:2016
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Valladolid
Repository:UVaDOC. Repositorio Documental de la Universidad de Valladolid
OAI Identifier:oai:uvadoc.uva.es:10324/22740
Online Access:http://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/22740
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Filología Inglesa
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spelling "It was perfect": Desire, corporeality, and denial in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan"Calvo Pascual, MónicaFilología InglesaThe acquisition of a corporeal sense of self, central to the formation of a balanced identity, is often barred in the Western world by women’s internalization of somatophohia. Drawing on theories of gender and corporeality, my contribution focuses on the representation and implications of eating disorders and deliberate self-harm practices as portrayed in Darren Aronofsky’s feature film Black Swan (2010). Protagonist Nina Sayers is rendered as a perfectionist workaholic whose compulsions include scratching and peeling off her skin. Her yearning for professional success is but an extra burden over and above her virginal sexual repression and her claustrophobic family environment.My main contention is that, beyond the psycho-sexual thriller cliché and the rather obvious metalepses between film and ballet, Aronofsky’s movie can be read as a denunciation of the lethal struggle some women undergo in their desperate attempts to transcend both their corporeality and the negative values attached to the female body, i.e. as that which clutters the mind with hungers and desires, barring them from “perfection.”La interiorización del odio a lo corporal por parte de algunas mujeres en el mundo occidental a menudo dificulta la adquisición de un sentido corpóreo del yo, tan importante para la formación de una identidad equilibrada. Partiendo de teorías sobre el género y la corporeidad, el artículo se centra en la representación e implicaciones de los desórdenes alimentarios y en los comportamientos auto-lesivos en la película Cisne negro, de Darren Aronofsky (2010). La protagonista, Nina Sayers, es una perfeccionista adicta al trabajo que se rasca compulsivamente y se arranca la piel. Su anhelado éxito profesional es una carga añadida a su represión sexual virginal y a su entorno familiar claustrofóbico.Mi argumento principal es que, más allá del cliché del thriller psicosexual y Ias obvias metalepsis entre la película y el ballet, el filme de Aronofsky puede interpretarse como una denuncia de la lucha letal a la que algunas mujeres se ven sometidas en sus intentos desesperados por trascender su corporeidad y los valores negativos relacionados con el cuerpo femenino como aquello que ofusca la mente con apetitos y deseos, y que hace imposible que alcancen la “perfección.”Ediciones Universidad de Valladolid2016info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/22740ES: Revista de filología inglesareponame:UVaDOC. Repositorio Documental de la Universidad de Valladolidinstname:Universidad de ValladolidEspañolhttps://revistas.uva.es/index.php/esreview/article/view/757info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/oai:uvadoc.uva.es:10324/227402026-06-13T12:44:47Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv "It was perfect": Desire, corporeality, and denial in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan"
title "It was perfect": Desire, corporeality, and denial in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan"
spellingShingle "It was perfect": Desire, corporeality, and denial in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan"
Calvo Pascual, Mónica
Filología Inglesa
title_short "It was perfect": Desire, corporeality, and denial in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan"
title_full "It was perfect": Desire, corporeality, and denial in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan"
title_fullStr "It was perfect": Desire, corporeality, and denial in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan"
title_full_unstemmed "It was perfect": Desire, corporeality, and denial in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan"
title_sort "It was perfect": Desire, corporeality, and denial in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan"
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Calvo Pascual, Mónica
author Calvo Pascual, Mónica
author_facet Calvo Pascual, Mónica
author_role author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Ediciones Universidad de Valladolid
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Filología Inglesa
topic Filología Inglesa
description The acquisition of a corporeal sense of self, central to the formation of a balanced identity, is often barred in the Western world by women’s internalization of somatophohia. Drawing on theories of gender and corporeality, my contribution focuses on the representation and implications of eating disorders and deliberate self-harm practices as portrayed in Darren Aronofsky’s feature film Black Swan (2010). Protagonist Nina Sayers is rendered as a perfectionist workaholic whose compulsions include scratching and peeling off her skin. Her yearning for professional success is but an extra burden over and above her virginal sexual repression and her claustrophobic family environment.My main contention is that, beyond the psycho-sexual thriller cliché and the rather obvious metalepses between film and ballet, Aronofsky’s movie can be read as a denunciation of the lethal struggle some women undergo in their desperate attempts to transcend both their corporeality and the negative values attached to the female body, i.e. as that which clutters the mind with hungers and desires, barring them from “perfection.”
publishDate 2016
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2016
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/22740
url http://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/22740
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Español
language_invalid_str_mv Español
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://revistas.uva.es/index.php/esreview/article/view/757
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv ES: Revista de filología inglesa
reponame:UVaDOC. Repositorio Documental de la Universidad de Valladolid
instname:Universidad de Valladolid
instname_str Universidad de Valladolid
reponame_str UVaDOC. Repositorio Documental de la Universidad de Valladolid
collection UVaDOC. Repositorio Documental de la Universidad de Valladolid
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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