You, Me, We: Encountering Art, Autobiography and ‘Potential Space’ in the Present

Abstract

In order to critically interrogate the conditions in which we live, and the world around us, feminists have turned to the complexity of their own experience. As we have learned, the time of autobiography is key to its political function: the occasional is the time of prefatory critical reflection (Nancy K. Miller); the belated is the time of the anecdotal (Jane Gallop); the after-effect is the time of belated surprise (Shoshana Felman). But what of the present moment? In this article, Morra proposes that the representation of the temporal, spatial, and historical present is a powerful form of critique. Bringing to bear Maria Lassnig’s art practice onto feminist theories of autobiography, Morra suggests that the potential space of the present (D.W. Winnicott) is fundamental to autobiography’s ability to provide us with a form of individual and collective feminist resistance.