History of the Body. In 3 volumes
History of the Body. In 3 volumes
49.99 €
The three-volume "History of the Body," written by French, British, and American anthropologists and cultural historians, comprehensively examines European bodily practices from the Renaissance to the present day. How attitudes toward the body changed over the centuries, how religion, medicine, popular culture, and art viewed the body; how the body was expected to behave and manifest itself; what social and sexual practices were encouraged and what were forbidden; how the body of a monarch differed from that of a commoner—all of this is explored in this extensive study edited by Alain Corbin, Jean-Jacques Courtin, and Georges Vigarello. The first volume is devoted to the history of the body from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment and describes the development of the European image of the "modern" body. The history of the body is examined in various aspects: body and religion, body and society, body and sexuality, body and medicine, body and play, body and power. The second volume covers the period from the French Revolution to the outbreak of the First World War: the "long 19th century," which brought numerous innovations that radically altered the perception of the body. Medical discoveries and artistic achievements, nascent sexology and the rapid development of sports, technological progress and moral reflection on pleasure and pain—in all areas, attitudes toward the body are profoundly altered. This foreshadows even more profound changes that will occur in the 20th century. The third volume covers the 20th century, in which the human body has become almost the primary object, enduring unprecedented suffering and simultaneously enjoying unprecedented attention. Parallel processes are underway: the repression and simultaneous acceptance of bodily anomalies, the transformation of the individual, unique body into an insignificant element of the masses, food for war and political repression—and, concurrently, sexual and creative liberation, the "professionalization" of the athletic and cinematic body, creating its cult. This volume recounts how the 20th century radically changed the perception of the body.
See also:
- All books by the publisher
- All books in the series Everyday culture