ABSTRACT

Textures of Light draws on the work of Luce Irigaray, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Emmanuel Levinas to present an outstanding and ground breaking study of the vital importance of light in Western thought. Since Plato's allegory of the cave, light and the role of sight have been accorded a unique position in Western thought. They have stood as a metaphor for truth and objectivity and the very axis of modern rationalism. More recently however, this status has come under significant criticism from continental and feminist thought which has stressed the privileging of subjectivity and masculinity in such a metaphor.

part I|18 pages

True light

chapter 1|16 pages

Introduction

part II|54 pages

Carnal Light

chapter 3|15 pages

Living Flesh

chapter 4|19 pages

Vision in the Flesh

chapter 5|13 pages

Touching Flesh

part III|47 pages

Perverse Light

chapter 6|3 pages

Introduction to Levinas

chapter 7|20 pages

Scintillating Lighting

chapter 8|11 pages

The Lightness of Touch

chapter 9|11 pages

Illuminating Passion

part IV|8 pages

Erotic Light

chapter 10|6 pages

Conclusion