Body as space Flashcards
What four things can the body be as?
Body as the surface
Body as the bearer of symbolic value.
Body as space.
Body as the product of discourse
What is the body at the surface?
How we express ourselves. it is the space where we show how different things are important to us
How is it shaped?
It is physicaly shaped
What are examples of the body at the surface?
Different make up, hairstyles etc
What is it inscribed into?
Cultural values and norms
Who came up with Civilising the body? year?
Norbert Elias (1982)
What became an important part of social norms?
Body management and control of emotions became an important part of social norms- how people were expected to behave
What is an example of how people were expected to behave?
Parents teaching children manners and how to control themselves e.g. wiping their mouths
What is the body as the bearer of symbolic value?
Different class/bodies. Bodily competence where the value is not fixed
What is an example of the body as a bearer of symbolic value?
Studies of consumption reveal that taste is embodied and it affects peoples orientation of their bodies. For example, people often blame their eating habits
What is the sensuous body?
How the body feels and moves essentially. How the body can feel itself moving
Why is the sensuous body significant?
It can produce or generate spaces. For example, people on a football pitch can give it a different meaning and it alters the imagination
Who came up with the material body?
Merleau-Pomt (1962)
What did he argue?
That the material body can produce spaces.
What did he say bodily movements are directed by?
Directed by the body’s intelligent connections with the world that surrounds it
