Cécile Fabre
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199289998
- eISBN:
- 9780191603556
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199289999.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter argues that the duty of assistance includes a duty to make some of one’s body parts available, before death, to those who need them. It claims that however demanding such duty may seem ...
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This chapter argues that the duty of assistance includes a duty to make some of one’s body parts available, before death, to those who need them. It claims that however demanding such duty may seem at first sight, it can be delineated in such a way as to preserve the interest of the healthy in living a minimally flourishing life.Less
This chapter argues that the duty of assistance includes a duty to make some of one’s body parts available, before death, to those who need them. It claims that however demanding such duty may seem at first sight, it can be delineated in such a way as to preserve the interest of the healthy in living a minimally flourishing life.
Asifa Majid
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195311129
- eISBN:
- 9780199776924
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195311129.003.0004
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Developmental Psychology
This chapter addresses the question of whether there are “basic” body parts that are recognized across cultures, in how people talk about the body. Or to put it another way, how do people from ...
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This chapter addresses the question of whether there are “basic” body parts that are recognized across cultures, in how people talk about the body. Or to put it another way, how do people from different communities come to conceptualize the body in the languages they speak? It focuses on a particular semantic component: the reference of body part terms; that is, what the exact extension of body part terms is across languages; how similar or different are the categorization systems? This is but one component of this semantic domain. According to Kemmerer and Tranel, additional components include information about the spatial organization of body parts, their characteristic functions, and their typical cultural associations. Although there are differences between languages in characteristic functions or cultural associations of body parts, many have predicted universals in body part categorization. The chapter argues that there is considerably more variation in the naming of body parts than is acknowledged, but that this variation is constrained.Less
This chapter addresses the question of whether there are “basic” body parts that are recognized across cultures, in how people talk about the body. Or to put it another way, how do people from different communities come to conceptualize the body in the languages they speak? It focuses on a particular semantic component: the reference of body part terms; that is, what the exact extension of body part terms is across languages; how similar or different are the categorization systems? This is but one component of this semantic domain. According to Kemmerer and Tranel, additional components include information about the spatial organization of body parts, their characteristic functions, and their typical cultural associations. Although there are differences between languages in characteristic functions or cultural associations of body parts, many have predicted universals in body part categorization. The chapter argues that there is considerably more variation in the naming of body parts than is acknowledged, but that this variation is constrained.
Günter P. Wagner
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691156460
- eISBN:
- 9781400851461
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691156460.003.0005
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This chapter examines the evolutionary processes that led to the origin of body parts, with particular emphasis on the concept of “novelties.” It first considers the distinction between the evolution ...
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This chapter examines the evolutionary processes that led to the origin of body parts, with particular emphasis on the concept of “novelties.” It first considers the distinction between the evolution of adaptations and the origin of novelties, and more specifically innovations, before proposing a perspective of what evolutionary novelties are. To this end, a definition of morphological novelty is given, followed by a discussion of phenomenological modes for the origin of Type I novelties such as the differentiation of repeated elements. The chapter also describes how natural selection creates character individuality and concludes with an analysis of modularity, functional specialization, and robustness and canalization.Less
This chapter examines the evolutionary processes that led to the origin of body parts, with particular emphasis on the concept of “novelties.” It first considers the distinction between the evolution of adaptations and the origin of novelties, and more specifically innovations, before proposing a perspective of what evolutionary novelties are. To this end, a definition of morphological novelty is given, followed by a discussion of phenomenological modes for the origin of Type I novelties such as the differentiation of repeated elements. The chapter also describes how natural selection creates character individuality and concludes with an analysis of modularity, functional specialization, and robustness and canalization.
Paul U. Unschuld
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520257658
- eISBN:
- 9780520944701
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520257658.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Medical Anthropology
This chapter focuses on the human body and examines a commonly used name for the invisible something, the spirit or soul, denoted by X. It is assumed that the body cannot live without a soul and the ...
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This chapter focuses on the human body and examines a commonly used name for the invisible something, the spirit or soul, denoted by X. It is assumed that the body cannot live without a soul and the soulless body exists only as a dead body. An endeavor to explain certain functions of the body, and with that to explain certain human behaviors, leads to the assumption of invisible, intangible, but nevertheless real parts of the living body. The names for X are adapted to their context of interpretation, sometimes religious, sometimes secular. Certain conventions can impress themselves in a cultural context. The ethereal and astral parts of the body are differentiations of X. The idea emerged that a body and its X could seem totally normal or healthy to the naïve observer, but still be classified by experts as sick or abnormal. Even in very early times, there was a differentiation between illness of the tangible, visible body and illness of X, the intangible, invisible spirit.Less
This chapter focuses on the human body and examines a commonly used name for the invisible something, the spirit or soul, denoted by X. It is assumed that the body cannot live without a soul and the soulless body exists only as a dead body. An endeavor to explain certain functions of the body, and with that to explain certain human behaviors, leads to the assumption of invisible, intangible, but nevertheless real parts of the living body. The names for X are adapted to their context of interpretation, sometimes religious, sometimes secular. Certain conventions can impress themselves in a cultural context. The ethereal and astral parts of the body are differentiations of X. The idea emerged that a body and its X could seem totally normal or healthy to the naïve observer, but still be classified by experts as sick or abnormal. Even in very early times, there was a differentiation between illness of the tangible, visible body and illness of X, the intangible, invisible spirit.
Samuel J. M. M. Alberti
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199584581
- eISBN:
- 9780191725159
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199584581.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Chapter 3 begins with the point of origin of the anatomical specimen, that is, the death and dissection of the ‘patient’. Thus fragmented, body parts followed complex paths—harvested from hospital ...
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Chapter 3 begins with the point of origin of the anatomical specimen, that is, the death and dissection of the ‘patient’. Thus fragmented, body parts followed complex paths—harvested from hospital wards, given to a prestigious institution, or once again fragmented at auction. Human remains acquired new meanings associated with collectors and practitioners as they were exchanged. We find here that the process of objectification, rendering the human body material culture, begins as a conceptual act even before the death of the patient. Each of the different modes of acquisition that brought objects into medical collections: gifts, auctions and other sales, exchanges, and, especially, the generation of preparations from the ‘raw material’ of patients in hospital wards are accounted for.Less
Chapter 3 begins with the point of origin of the anatomical specimen, that is, the death and dissection of the ‘patient’. Thus fragmented, body parts followed complex paths—harvested from hospital wards, given to a prestigious institution, or once again fragmented at auction. Human remains acquired new meanings associated with collectors and practitioners as they were exchanged. We find here that the process of objectification, rendering the human body material culture, begins as a conceptual act even before the death of the patient. Each of the different modes of acquisition that brought objects into medical collections: gifts, auctions and other sales, exchanges, and, especially, the generation of preparations from the ‘raw material’ of patients in hospital wards are accounted for.
Anne Phillips
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691150864
- eISBN:
- 9781400846368
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691150864.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book considers what, if anything, is the difference between markets in sex or reproduction or human body parts and the ...
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This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book considers what, if anything, is the difference between markets in sex or reproduction or human body parts and the other markets we commonly applaud. What—if anything—makes the body special? It argues that some things should not be for sale, and that it is not transparently obvious either why this is so or which these are. It considers not just markets and the body, but also the implications and consequences of thinking of the body as something that we own. It examines cases of body commodification, focusing on commercial surrogacy and markets in body parts. It also considers instances where thinking of the body as property has no obvious implications in terms of making it available for sale. This book addresses, therefore, two distinct though related questions. What, if anything, is wrong with thinking of oneself as the owner of one's body? What, if anything, is wrong with making our bodies available for rent or sale?Less
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book considers what, if anything, is the difference between markets in sex or reproduction or human body parts and the other markets we commonly applaud. What—if anything—makes the body special? It argues that some things should not be for sale, and that it is not transparently obvious either why this is so or which these are. It considers not just markets and the body, but also the implications and consequences of thinking of the body as something that we own. It examines cases of body commodification, focusing on commercial surrogacy and markets in body parts. It also considers instances where thinking of the body as property has no obvious implications in terms of making it available for sale. This book addresses, therefore, two distinct though related questions. What, if anything, is wrong with thinking of oneself as the owner of one's body? What, if anything, is wrong with making our bodies available for rent or sale?
Michael S. A. Graziano
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195326703
- eISBN:
- 9780199864867
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326703.003.0003
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Sensory and Motor Systems, Behavioral Neuroscience
This chapter begins by discussing the question of whether the musculature of the hand is controlled in a decomposed or in an integrated manner in the primary motor cortex. It then discusses ...
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This chapter begins by discussing the question of whether the musculature of the hand is controlled in a decomposed or in an integrated manner in the primary motor cortex. It then discusses integration among other body-part representations, and how this integration may develop through experience with complex actions.Less
This chapter begins by discussing the question of whether the musculature of the hand is controlled in a decomposed or in an integrated manner in the primary motor cortex. It then discusses integration among other body-part representations, and how this integration may develop through experience with complex actions.
Anne Phillips
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691150864
- eISBN:
- 9781400846368
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691150864.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
No one wants to be treated like an object, regarded as an item of property, or put up for sale. Yet many people frame personal autonomy in terms of self-ownership, representing themselves as property ...
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No one wants to be treated like an object, regarded as an item of property, or put up for sale. Yet many people frame personal autonomy in terms of self-ownership, representing themselves as property owners with the right to do as they wish with their bodies. Others do not use the language of property, but are similarly insistent on the rights of free individuals to decide for themselves whether to engage in commercial transactions for sex, reproduction, or organ sales. Drawing on analyses of rape, surrogacy, and markets in human organs, this book challenges notions of freedom based on ownership of our bodies and argues against the normalization of markets in bodily services and parts. The book explores the risks associated with metaphors of property and the reasons why the commodification of the body remains problematic. The book asks what is wrong with thinking of oneself as the owner of one's body? What is wrong with making our bodies available for rent or sale? What, if anything, is the difference between markets in sex, reproduction, or human body parts, and the other markets we commonly applaud? The book contends that body markets occupy the outer edges of a continuum that is, in some way, a feature of all labor markets. But it also emphasizes that we all have bodies, and considers the implications of this otherwise banal fact for equality. Bodies remind us of shared vulnerability, alerting us to the common experience of living as embodied beings in the same world. Examining the complex issue of body exceptionalism, the book demonstrates that treating the body as property makes human equality harder to comprehend.Less
No one wants to be treated like an object, regarded as an item of property, or put up for sale. Yet many people frame personal autonomy in terms of self-ownership, representing themselves as property owners with the right to do as they wish with their bodies. Others do not use the language of property, but are similarly insistent on the rights of free individuals to decide for themselves whether to engage in commercial transactions for sex, reproduction, or organ sales. Drawing on analyses of rape, surrogacy, and markets in human organs, this book challenges notions of freedom based on ownership of our bodies and argues against the normalization of markets in bodily services and parts. The book explores the risks associated with metaphors of property and the reasons why the commodification of the body remains problematic. The book asks what is wrong with thinking of oneself as the owner of one's body? What is wrong with making our bodies available for rent or sale? What, if anything, is the difference between markets in sex, reproduction, or human body parts, and the other markets we commonly applaud? The book contends that body markets occupy the outer edges of a continuum that is, in some way, a feature of all labor markets. But it also emphasizes that we all have bodies, and considers the implications of this otherwise banal fact for equality. Bodies remind us of shared vulnerability, alerting us to the common experience of living as embodied beings in the same world. Examining the complex issue of body exceptionalism, the book demonstrates that treating the body as property makes human equality harder to comprehend.
Janet Radcliffe Richards
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195335149
- eISBN:
- 9780199866335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335149.003.0011
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter examines the bearing of financial inducements on consent, focusing on the issue of selling kidneys for transplantation. How can it be considered unethical to sell kidneys if it is ...
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This chapter examines the bearing of financial inducements on consent, focusing on the issue of selling kidneys for transplantation. How can it be considered unethical to sell kidneys if it is ethical to donate them? It is argued that concerns about the validity of consent to sell kidneys cannot withstand critical scrutiny.Less
This chapter examines the bearing of financial inducements on consent, focusing on the issue of selling kidneys for transplantation. How can it be considered unethical to sell kidneys if it is ethical to donate them? It is argued that concerns about the validity of consent to sell kidneys cannot withstand critical scrutiny.
Eric Rakowski
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198240792
- eISBN:
- 9780191680274
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198240792.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter examines the real and hypothetical responses to questions related to a handicapped or diseased persons' entitlement of parts of others' bodies in order to remove their disabilities or ...
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This chapter examines the real and hypothetical responses to questions related to a handicapped or diseased persons' entitlement of parts of others' bodies in order to remove their disabilities or save their lives when the donor would not be similarly injured or endangered. The chapter endorses nonvoluntary post mortem transplants and the mandatory transfer of organs from live donors for the well-being of responsible adults in cases where the benefits would be large and the sacrifices demanded of donors not excessive. It then counters opponents of nonvoluntary transplants and finally concludes that compulsory renal or corneal transplants, as well as forced blood donations, are justifiable to redress significant inequalities if cadaver organs are unavailable and if potential recipients did not waived their right to receive an organ in exchange for a lessened risk of having to donate one of their own.Less
This chapter examines the real and hypothetical responses to questions related to a handicapped or diseased persons' entitlement of parts of others' bodies in order to remove their disabilities or save their lives when the donor would not be similarly injured or endangered. The chapter endorses nonvoluntary post mortem transplants and the mandatory transfer of organs from live donors for the well-being of responsible adults in cases where the benefits would be large and the sacrifices demanded of donors not excessive. It then counters opponents of nonvoluntary transplants and finally concludes that compulsory renal or corneal transplants, as well as forced blood donations, are justifiable to redress significant inequalities if cadaver organs are unavailable and if potential recipients did not waived their right to receive an organ in exchange for a lessened risk of having to donate one of their own.
Mary Orr
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198159698
- eISBN:
- 9780191673672
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198159698.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
In this chapter, Trois Contes (TC) uncovers the contradictions of the interpersonal within political, legal, or religious frames. It undertakes a new reading which investigates the morality of TC not ...
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In this chapter, Trois Contes (TC) uncovers the contradictions of the interpersonal within political, legal, or religious frames. It undertakes a new reading which investigates the morality of TC not through the religious or ethical, but through its anthropological strata. It looks at the three male body-parts which signify ‘life’ in order to investigate the public conscience of man, not his subconscious.Less
In this chapter, Trois Contes (TC) uncovers the contradictions of the interpersonal within political, legal, or religious frames. It undertakes a new reading which investigates the morality of TC not through the religious or ethical, but through its anthropological strata. It looks at the three male body-parts which signify ‘life’ in order to investigate the public conscience of man, not his subconscious.
Alexia Petsalis-Diomidis
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199237913
- eISBN:
- 9780191716713
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199237913.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
This chapter presents a vivid analysis of the experience of the healing pilgrim in the Roman Empire. The focus is the Asklepieion at Pergamum that offers evidence of several types: architectural ...
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This chapter presents a vivid analysis of the experience of the healing pilgrim in the Roman Empire. The focus is the Asklepieion at Pergamum that offers evidence of several types: architectural evidence, i.e. the layout of the shrine; art-historical evidence, i.e. dedications of body-parts; epigraphic evidence, i.e. the illuminating Sacred Law from Pergamum prescribing ritual practice for visitors; and literary evidence, especially Aelius Aristides' Sacred Tales. From this evidence, it reconstructs an impression of the pilgrim's experience characterised by a tension between the control and order of communal ritual and the individual's experience of his illness and his encounter with the deity.Less
This chapter presents a vivid analysis of the experience of the healing pilgrim in the Roman Empire. The focus is the Asklepieion at Pergamum that offers evidence of several types: architectural evidence, i.e. the layout of the shrine; art-historical evidence, i.e. dedications of body-parts; epigraphic evidence, i.e. the illuminating Sacred Law from Pergamum prescribing ritual practice for visitors; and literary evidence, especially Aelius Aristides' Sacred Tales. From this evidence, it reconstructs an impression of the pilgrim's experience characterised by a tension between the control and order of communal ritual and the individual's experience of his illness and his encounter with the deity.
Mira Balberg
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780520280632
- eISBN:
- 9780520958210
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520280632.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
The second chapter explores how the rabbis perceived of the human body as a material entity and how they imagined its physical function in the contraction and transmission of impurity. The chapter ...
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The second chapter explores how the rabbis perceived of the human body as a material entity and how they imagined its physical function in the contraction and transmission of impurity. The chapter focuses on their construction of the body as a fluid and modular entity whose boundaries are in constant flux. The chapter shows that the rabbis divide the body into different areas in such way that areas that are less consequential to the subject and that one does not strongly identify with oneself (such as interior or invisible parts) are not susceptible to impurity. Thereby, the rabbis create a unique paradigm of a bodily self, in which the body is identical to the self only insofar as the body is invested with subjectivity.Less
The second chapter explores how the rabbis perceived of the human body as a material entity and how they imagined its physical function in the contraction and transmission of impurity. The chapter focuses on their construction of the body as a fluid and modular entity whose boundaries are in constant flux. The chapter shows that the rabbis divide the body into different areas in such way that areas that are less consequential to the subject and that one does not strongly identify with oneself (such as interior or invisible parts) are not susceptible to impurity. Thereby, the rabbis create a unique paradigm of a bodily self, in which the body is identical to the self only insofar as the body is invested with subjectivity.
Remigius N. Nwabueze
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199587551
- eISBN:
- 9780191725630
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199587551.003.0009
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health
This chapter suggests that the legal status of human tissues is still evolving. The question of whether a human tissue deserves protection or what legal category underpins that protection often ...
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This chapter suggests that the legal status of human tissues is still evolving. The question of whether a human tissue deserves protection or what legal category underpins that protection often depends on one or more paradigms generally applied towards the analysis of human tissues. Accordingly, the chapter sets out to identify and explore the tripodic frameworks which usually animate the analysis of human tissues. It suggests a trend towards a more inclusive use of all analytical models, in contrast to the monolithic approach inspired by the no-property rule.Less
This chapter suggests that the legal status of human tissues is still evolving. The question of whether a human tissue deserves protection or what legal category underpins that protection often depends on one or more paradigms generally applied towards the analysis of human tissues. Accordingly, the chapter sets out to identify and explore the tripodic frameworks which usually animate the analysis of human tissues. It suggests a trend towards a more inclusive use of all analytical models, in contrast to the monolithic approach inspired by the no-property rule.
David Kemmerer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- March 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190682620
- eISBN:
- 9780190682651
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190682620.003.0003
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
It is tempting to suppose that all languages represent objects in comparable ways. Typological research has shown, however, that while there are many cross-linguistic similarities in this semantic ...
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It is tempting to suppose that all languages represent objects in comparable ways. Typological research has shown, however, that while there are many cross-linguistic similarities in this semantic realm, there are also numerous differences. This chapter describes some of these findings and explores their implications for cognitive neuroscience. The first section discusses plant, animal, and artifact concepts jointly, but in a manner that still respects their different treatments by typologists and neuroscientists. Then the subsequent section focuses on a fourth domain, namely body parts. Next, the chapter considers some of the ways in which objects are represented by the following kinds of closed-class items and constructions: grammatical-semantic splits involving possession, and nominal classification systems. Although both of these forms of object representation have been intensively investigated in typology, they have been almost completely neglected in neuroscience; hence, they are especially relevant to the latter field of study.Less
It is tempting to suppose that all languages represent objects in comparable ways. Typological research has shown, however, that while there are many cross-linguistic similarities in this semantic realm, there are also numerous differences. This chapter describes some of these findings and explores their implications for cognitive neuroscience. The first section discusses plant, animal, and artifact concepts jointly, but in a manner that still respects their different treatments by typologists and neuroscientists. Then the subsequent section focuses on a fourth domain, namely body parts. Next, the chapter considers some of the ways in which objects are represented by the following kinds of closed-class items and constructions: grammatical-semantic splits involving possession, and nominal classification systems. Although both of these forms of object representation have been intensively investigated in typology, they have been almost completely neglected in neuroscience; hence, they are especially relevant to the latter field of study.
Michelle Osterfeld Li
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804759755
- eISBN:
- 9780804771061
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804759755.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
This book draws from theories of the grotesque to examine many of the strange and extraordinary creatures and phenomena in the premodern Japanese tales called setsuwa. Grotesque representations in ...
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This book draws from theories of the grotesque to examine many of the strange and extraordinary creatures and phenomena in the premodern Japanese tales called setsuwa. Grotesque representations in general typically direct our attention to unfinished and unrefined things; they are marked by an earthy sense of the body and an interest in the physical, and, because they have many meanings, can both sustain and undermine authority. The book aims to make sense of grotesque representations in setsuwa—animated detached body parts, unusual sexual encounters, demons and shape-shifting or otherwise wondrous animals—and, in a broader sense, to show what this type of critical focus can reveal about the mentality of Japanese people in the ancient, classical, and early medieval periods. It places Japanese tales of this nature, which have received little critical attention in English, within a sophisticated theoretical framework, focusing on them in the context of the historical periods in which they were created and compiled.Less
This book draws from theories of the grotesque to examine many of the strange and extraordinary creatures and phenomena in the premodern Japanese tales called setsuwa. Grotesque representations in general typically direct our attention to unfinished and unrefined things; they are marked by an earthy sense of the body and an interest in the physical, and, because they have many meanings, can both sustain and undermine authority. The book aims to make sense of grotesque representations in setsuwa—animated detached body parts, unusual sexual encounters, demons and shape-shifting or otherwise wondrous animals—and, in a broader sense, to show what this type of critical focus can reveal about the mentality of Japanese people in the ancient, classical, and early medieval periods. It places Japanese tales of this nature, which have received little critical attention in English, within a sophisticated theoretical framework, focusing on them in the context of the historical periods in which they were created and compiled.
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804759755
- eISBN:
- 9780804771061
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804759755.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
This chapter examines setsuwa tales about detached parts that either act independently from the body or are otherwise fantastic in a severed state. The analysis of three setsuwa suggests that ...
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This chapter examines setsuwa tales about detached parts that either act independently from the body or are otherwise fantastic in a severed state. The analysis of three setsuwa suggests that fantastic detached body parts are sites of tension between conflicting desires and ideologies. The chapter explains that the tales are positioned to undermine people in the highest positions of authority and highlight the vulnerability and loss of the protagonists.Less
This chapter examines setsuwa tales about detached parts that either act independently from the body or are otherwise fantastic in a severed state. The analysis of three setsuwa suggests that fantastic detached body parts are sites of tension between conflicting desires and ideologies. The chapter explains that the tales are positioned to undermine people in the highest positions of authority and highlight the vulnerability and loss of the protagonists.
Roberto Zariquiey
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- December 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198795841
- eISBN:
- 9780191837036
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198795841.003.0017
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Language Families
The present chapter deals with some well-attested diachronic developments of body-part nouns in languages belonging to a sample of language families of South America. Body-part nouns in these ...
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The present chapter deals with some well-attested diachronic developments of body-part nouns in languages belonging to a sample of language families of South America. Body-part nouns in these languages are often implicated in the development of locative adpositions, classifiers of different sorts, and body-part prefixes (as described for Panoan languages). This chapter argues that it is possible to postulate at least four different source constructions for these developments, including incorporated nouns, derivative compounds, generic genitives, and locative compounds. As shown in this chapter, there is an intrinsic relation between these constructions and body-part nouns, and this fact, in addition to the special cognitive nature of body-part expressions, may explain why these nouns undergo the grammaticalization processes described here. Due to its widespread distribution, the recruitment of body-part nouns for the development of grammatical elements such as adpositions, classifiers, and prefixes might be considered an areal feature of South American languages.Less
The present chapter deals with some well-attested diachronic developments of body-part nouns in languages belonging to a sample of language families of South America. Body-part nouns in these languages are often implicated in the development of locative adpositions, classifiers of different sorts, and body-part prefixes (as described for Panoan languages). This chapter argues that it is possible to postulate at least four different source constructions for these developments, including incorporated nouns, derivative compounds, generic genitives, and locative compounds. As shown in this chapter, there is an intrinsic relation between these constructions and body-part nouns, and this fact, in addition to the special cognitive nature of body-part expressions, may explain why these nouns undergo the grammaticalization processes described here. Due to its widespread distribution, the recruitment of body-part nouns for the development of grammatical elements such as adpositions, classifiers, and prefixes might be considered an areal feature of South American languages.
Carol Priestley
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- June 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198736721
- eISBN:
- 9780191800382
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198736721.003.0006
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
This chapter discusses body part nouns, a part of language that is central to human life, and the polysemy that arises in connection with them. Examples from everyday speech and narrative in various ...
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This chapter discusses body part nouns, a part of language that is central to human life, and the polysemy that arises in connection with them. Examples from everyday speech and narrative in various contexts are examined in a Papuan language called Koromu and semantic characteristics of body part nouns in other studies are also considered. Semantic templates are developed for nouns that represent highly visible body parts: for example, wapi ‘hands/arms’, ehi ‘feet/legs’, and their related parts. Culture-specific explications are expressed in a natural metalanguage that can be translated into Koromu to avoid the cultural bias inherent in using other languages and to reveal both distinctive semantic components and similarities to cross-linguistic examples.Less
This chapter discusses body part nouns, a part of language that is central to human life, and the polysemy that arises in connection with them. Examples from everyday speech and narrative in various contexts are examined in a Papuan language called Koromu and semantic characteristics of body part nouns in other studies are also considered. Semantic templates are developed for nouns that represent highly visible body parts: for example, wapi ‘hands/arms’, ehi ‘feet/legs’, and their related parts. Culture-specific explications are expressed in a natural metalanguage that can be translated into Koromu to avoid the cultural bias inherent in using other languages and to reveal both distinctive semantic components and similarities to cross-linguistic examples.
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9789888139156
- eISBN:
- 9789882209756
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888139156.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This study brings into the open Hong Kong women's suppressed and hidden articulation of their feelings about their sexual body parts. By tracing the heavily regulated and always difficult process by ...
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This study brings into the open Hong Kong women's suppressed and hidden articulation of their feelings about their sexual body parts. By tracing the heavily regulated and always difficult process by which they came into contact with and related themselves to their sexual body parts, it examines how women were made to develop a sense of self-alienation towards their own bodies, and yet how some of them managed to put up their resistance against such a ‘forced’ dissociation. It also challenges the assumed superiority of using medico-anatomical language to prescribe ‘proper’ names for sexual parts, as they are found to possess a high degree of indeterminacy as sites of arousal and pleasure, and subject to the nature of encounters and relational contexts.Less
This study brings into the open Hong Kong women's suppressed and hidden articulation of their feelings about their sexual body parts. By tracing the heavily regulated and always difficult process by which they came into contact with and related themselves to their sexual body parts, it examines how women were made to develop a sense of self-alienation towards their own bodies, and yet how some of them managed to put up their resistance against such a ‘forced’ dissociation. It also challenges the assumed superiority of using medico-anatomical language to prescribe ‘proper’ names for sexual parts, as they are found to possess a high degree of indeterminacy as sites of arousal and pleasure, and subject to the nature of encounters and relational contexts.
