Introduction: Approaching abjection - Rina Arya and Nicholas Chare
1. Art, abjection and bare life - John Lechte
2. A lesbian, feminist and Canadian perspective: queering abjection - Jayne Wark
3. Manet's Abject Surrealism - Nicholas Chare
4. Juan Davila's abject after-image - Rex Butler and A. D. S. Donaldson
5. Animals, art, abjection - Barbara Creed and Jeanette Hoorn
6. The fragmented body as an index of abjection - Rina Arya
7. Skin, body, self: the question of the abject in the work of Francis Bacon - Ernst van Alphen
8. Abjection, melancholia and ambiguity in the works of Catherine Bell - Estelle Barrett
9. Corpus Delicti - Kerstin Mey
10. Art is on the way: from the abject opening of underworld to the shitty ending of oblivion - Calvin Thomas
11. Base materials: performing the abject object - Daniel Watt
Index

Abject visions is a path-breaking volume that brings together major international scholars to reflect on the vital importance and relevance of the concept of abjection for the interpretation of modern and contemporary culture. This genuinely interdisciplinary collection draws on the work of Georges Bataille, Judith Butler, Julia Kristeva and other key critical thinkers to produce innovative fresh readings of works of art, film, theatre and literature.

The clear and accessible essays that make up this volume extend the existing literature on abjection in exciting new ways, to demonstrate the enduring richness and applicability of the concept of abjection in cultural thinking and in contemporary art practice. The collection includes contributions that look beyond an Anglophone context, considering works by Chilean-Australian and Indigenous Canadian artists.

Abject visions will be of particular interest to both students and academics in the fields of Art History and Visual Cultures.