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PAWEŁ LESZKOWICZ

Koniec maskulinistycznego i etnocentrycznego uniwersalizmu i wy-
łonienie się kulturowego rozdrobnienia otwiera zupełnie nowy okres
sprawowania władzy oraz istnienia i funkcjonowania sztuki w prze-
kształcającym się systemie. Będzie to epoka, w której pytanie o płeć lub
seksualność twórcy nie będzie niestosowne, niewłaściwe lub zbędne, lecz
stanie się podstawowym środkiem artykulacji podmiotowej i artystycznej
tożsamości.

DE-CENTERING AND MULTICULTURALISM

Summary
The paper combines the perspectives of poststructualist modernism, multicultu-
ralism, and feminism. The deconstructive impulse has been directed at the modemist
mechanism of cultural canonization connected with the patriarchal system of power.
Approaching contemporary visual culture, the author highlights the role of
differentiating categories of gender, sexuality, race, class, and ethnic origin which
influence the multicultural aesthetics of cultural production. Visual representation is
defined by the socio-ideological context determining the meaning and function of the
image. The feminist revision has been stressed because of the significance of gender
in artistic creation and the institutionalization of art. In generał, the target of
critiąue is the modernist aesthetics of universalism and authenticity with its suppor-
ting alienating system of museums which mystifies the meaning and origin of the
work of art. The individual artistic identity is considered in terms of a socio-anthro-
pological difference - it is involved in the ideological system of power and culture,
setting definite limits of acceptance; legitimating certain images and excluding
others.
The main point is the crucial role of de-centering and the category of “otherness”
in contemporary cultural codification.