Nudity : a cultural anatomy / Ruth Barcan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Barcan, Ruth.

Series:

Dress, body, culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human body--Social aspects.

Human body.

Human body--Symbolic aspects.

Nudity--Social aspects.

Nudity.

Sex symbolism.

Physical Description:

xi, 308 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Berg, 2004.

Summary:

Nudity features regularly in all major media. So why is it illegal to appear naked in public?

We alternately think of nudity as a perversion and a state of absolute innocence. Why does it mean so many contradictory things, and why is it treated so differently in different contexts? Drawing on a wealth of examples from popular culture, literature, philosophy and religion, as well as first-hand interviews, Nudity: A Cultural Anatomy goes deep into the naked underworld to answer these and other tantalizing questions. Barcan encounters morticians, nudists, strippers, nurses, tattooists, artists and makers of pornography. She demonstrates that ordinary people, popular culture and high philosophy are all sources of wisdom about the naked body. Nudity is one of the most fundamental metaphors in the Western tradition -- indeed, it is a metaphor for human nature itself -- and yet this book is the first to explore its paradoxes in depth. Barcan's mission is to shine a light on a topic that has been largely ignored even within cultural studies, despite its ability to titillate, shock or entertain. From public hair fashions through to a Royal "full monty," Nudity: A Cultural Anatomy is a fascinating blend of meaningful minutiae and big philosophical questions about the most unnatural state of nature in the modern West.

Contents:

Introduction

The nudity/clothing dialectic

The metaphor of nudity

Unnatural nature : mess, savagery, perversion, crime

The nude republic : celebrity, "ordinariness" and identity

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-299) and index.

ISBN:

1859738729

OCLC:

54416112