Author： Faber A.
Publisher： Oxford University Press
ISSN： 0269-1205
Source： Literature and Theology, Vol.17, Iss.1, 2003-03, pp. : 59-75
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Abstract
Important essays by Stephen Heath, Kyle Keefer, Tod Linafelt, and Irena Makarushka on Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves (1996) contend that the film's characterisation of Bess represents her sexuality as a transgressive force for goodness. Catherine MacKinnon and Julia Kristeva, however, challenge the notion of the emanicipatory powers of transgressive sexuality: they theorise how assignments of ‘perverse’ sexualities constitute patriarchal hierarchies and orders. From this critical perspective, I argue that von Trier represents Bess's ‘goodness’ as masochistic debility, a dubious construction that valorises male domination and invests sexual violence with redemptive meaning.
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