Postmodernism and Surrealist Pornography

Abstract

The purpose of the present research is the argument that postmodernism has put forward in the arts, in favour of pornography, starting from the latter's presence in surrealist art and continuing with the consideration of the role of the gaze and censorship in the development of pornography. We will achieve this by using the psychoanalytic theory of scopophilia and anamorphosis, as well as Hays’ code and the impact of money shot practices in cinematography. The method of operation used is that of argumentation and philosophical criticism of postmodern culture and surrealist art. In our argumentative and critical approach, we’re using the concepts of Jean Baudrillard, Susan Sontag, Theodor Adorno and Dominique Maingueneau. The aim is to demonstrate, on the one hand, the assumption of surrealist overtones in pornography (Susan Sontag – the theory of ‘pornographic imagination’) and, on the other hand, to deconstruct Theodor Adorno's argument through the theory of intertextuality – the inability to classify a pornographic text in literature – as well as the importance of scopophilia in the pornographic apparatus’ postmodern game.