Claude Cahun Disavowals or Cancelled Confessions /anglais

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Memories? Choice morsels. My soul is fragmentary.--from Disavowals. Claude Cahun (1894-1954), born Lucy Schwob, was a multifaceted artist—poet, performer, resistance fighter, and photographer—who challenged identity through her diverse roles. Whether posing as her lover and stepsister Suzanne Malherbe, making public appearances in various disguises, or transforming herself for self-portraits, Cahun blurred the lines of gender and power, reducing them to mere costumes. In May 1930, Editions Carrefour published her book Aveux non avenues, which serves as an anti-memoir critiquing autobiography through subversive photomontages and statements. Cahun presents herself as a genius resisting identification, embodying "the mania of the exception." Disavowals marks the first English appearance of this significant work. It features reproductions of Cahun's original photomontages, introducing sections that delve into her ideas—self-interrogation, narcissism, metamorphosis, love, gender-switching, humor, and fear. An extensive introduction by Tate curator Jennifer Mundy contextualizes Cahun's life and art. The edition also includes a translation of the original preface by Pierre Mac Orlan, commentary by biographer Francois Leperlier, a note on the translation by Susan de Muth, and a postscript by Agnes Lhermitte.