Special Issue: Motherhood, Servitude and the Delegation of Care
In this special issue of Studies in the Maternal, Kate Pullinger reviews Underbelly, which won the MaMSIE Digital Media Competition last year:
‘Underbelly’ is a highly original work that makes great use of the multimedia potential provided by computers. It blends text, sound effects, voiceover, archive drawings, and photographs to create a rich meditation on reproductive rights and dilemmas in both twenty-first century, and nineteenth century England.
I first met Christine Wilks when she was a student on a MA in Creative Writing and New Media that I helped run. She began working on ‘Underbelly’ for her MA thesis, and I’ve been fascinated to watch the work develop since that time. It was clear then that Christine was creating something extraordinary, an important work in the newly emerging field of digital fiction, one that shines a light on a little known part of the history of the mining industry, while illuminating a contemporary story of a woman artist at the same time.
Studies in the Maternal is an international, peer-reviewed, scholarly online journal. In addtition to the papers and reviews (listed below), this special issue also includes visual media art, on the theme of Maternal Subjectivities, Care and Labour, and Kate Pullinger writing about her novel, The Mistress of Nothing.
Papers:
- Stella Sandford What is Maternal Labour?
- Lucy Delap “For ever and ever”: Child-raising, domestic workers and emotional labour in twentieth century Britain
- Daniel Miller Getting THINGS Right: Mothers and Material Culture
- Rosie Cox Competitive mothering and delegated care: Class relationships in nanny and au pair employment
- Rachel Thomson Making motherhood work?
Reviews:
- Maria Papadima: Joan B Wolf, Is breast best?
- Laura Seymour: Rita Ann Higgins, Ireland is Changing Mother and Jackie Kay Fiere
