Fat : a cultural history of the stuff of life / Christopher E. Forth.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Forth, Christopher E., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fat--Social aspects.

Fat.

Obesity--Social aspects.

Obesity.

Overweight persons.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (358 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London : Reaktion Books Ltd, [2019]

Summary:

"Fat. Such a little word evokes big responses. While "fat" describes the size and shape of bodies -- their appearance -- our negative reactions to corpulence also depend on something tangible and tactile. As this book argues, there is more to fat than meets the eye. Fat: A Cultural History of the Stuff of Life offers reflections on how fat has been perceived and imagined in the West since antiquity. Featuring fascinating historical accounts as well as philosophical, religious, and cultural analyses -- including discussions of status, gender, and race -- the book digs deep into the past for the roots of our current notions and prejudices. Two central themes emerge: how we have perceived and imagined corpulent bodies over the centuries, and how fat -- as a substance as well as a description of body size -- has been associated with vitality and fertility as well as perceptions of animality. By exploring the complex ways in which fat, fatness, and fattening have been perceived over time, this book provides rich insights into the stuff our stereotypes are made of." -- Publisher's description.

Contents:

Introduction: life in the wrong place – The stuff of life: thinking and doing with fat – Fertile ambiguities: the agricultural imagination – Ancient appetites: luxury and the geography of softness – Christian corpulence: the belly and what lies beneath – Noble fat? Corpulence in the Middle Ages – The fat of the land; or, why a good cock is never fat – Spartan mirages: utopian bodies and the challenges of modernity – Grease and grace: the disenchantment of fat? – Savage desires: ‘primitive’ fat and ‘civilized’ slenderness – Bodily utopianism: modern dreams of transcendence – Conclusion: purity, lightness and the weight of history.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781789140965

178914096X

9781789140620

1789140625