Dreyer, Elfriede2015-07-022015-07-022015/04/222014Van der Merwe, L 2014, Sacrificial and hunted bodies : ritualistic death and violence in the work of selected South African female artists, MA Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46213>A2015http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46213Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014.This study investigates the multiple occurrence of violent sacrificial imagery associated with animalistic and hunted bodies in the work of selected South African female artists as an articulation of the society in which the art was created. The theoretical framework of corporeal feminism is applied with reference to the postulations of George Bataille (1962), René Girard (1972) as well as Deleuze and Guattari (1984,1987), specifically with regard to the notion of becoming animal. This study shows how such imagery is used to act as a catalyst for social change by challenging Cartesian dualisms and forefronts certain issues applicable to women in a society that is patriarchal and violent. A comparison is made with the art of a selected group of Australian female artists who deal with similar themes and imagery from more or less the same timeframe.en© 2015 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.UCTDSouth African artistsAustralian artistsBatailleContemporary artBecoming animalFeminist artDissertation2615681