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book: Physiognomy at the Crossroad of Magic, Science, and the Arts
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Physiognomy at the Crossroad of Magic, Science, and the Arts

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Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2024
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Medical Traditions
This book is in the series
Volume 11 | Medical Traditions

About this book

The essays examine how the study of facial features or expressions as indicative of character or ethnicity, has evolved from the crossroad of magic, religion and primitive medicine to present-day cultural concern for wellness and beauty. In this context, the discoveries of cranio-facial neurophysiology and psychology and the practice of cosmetic and reconstructive surgery have a centuries-old relationship with physiognomy. As the study of outward appearances evolved from its classical roots and self-representations through 18th- and 19th-century adaptations in fiction and travelogues, it gradually became a scientific discipline. Along the way, physiognomy was associated with phrenology and craniology and promoted eugenic policies. Tainted with racial bigotry and biological determinism, it was trapped within questions of delinquency, monstrosity and posthumanism. Throughout its history, physiognomy played both positive and negative roles in the evolution of significant aspects of the socio-cultural order in the West that merit update and in-depth study. The contributions follow a chronological and intertwining sequence to encompass physiognomic expressions in art, literature, spirituality, science, philosophy and cultural studies.

Author / Editor information

Massimo Ciavolella and Megan Tomlinson, University of California at Los Angeles; Valeria Finucci, Duke University, NC; USA.

Topics

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    Frontmatter

    I
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    Acknowledgments

    V
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    Contents

    VII
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    List of Figures

    IX
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    List of Contributors

    XV
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  • Introduction
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    Revealing and Concealing: Physiognomy and Bodily Signs

    1
    Massimo Ciavolella, Valeria Finucci and Megan Tomlinson
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  • Facial Signs
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    Physiognomy: The Origins

    23
    Alain Touwaide
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    Between the Face and the Skull: Jacopo Ligozzi and the Other Side of the Mirror

    35
    Bronwen Wilson
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    Profiling Deviance, Embodying Passions: Facing and Effacing Character Norms in 19th-century Europe

    65
    Nicoletta Pireddu
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    Angelica, Clorinda and the descriptio puellae

    95
    Gaia Gubbini
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  • Transforming Faces
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    Facial Gender-Affirming Surgery: Shaping Physiognomy for Transgender and Gender Non-Congruent Individuals

    115
    Justine C. Lee
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    Fugitives, Physiognomy, Surgery, and Face Recognition Technology in the Modern Surveillance State

    135
    Sharrona Pearl
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    Modifying One’s Physiognomy in Antiquity

    157
    Alain Touwaide
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    Faces in Rocks and Trenches: Facial Framings and Post-Colonial Dilemmas in the Australian Cinema of Peter Weir

    175
    Romy Sutherland
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  • Deciphering Faces
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    Reading Body Language and Physiognomic Signs in Andrea Mantegna’s Painting The Triumph of Virtue

    221
    Éva Vígh
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    The Cult of Beauty and Wellbeing in the Humana Physiognomonia and Other Works by Giovan Battista della Porta

    243
    Alfonso Paolella
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    The French Lavater: Translating Physiognomy into Science in the Late Enlightenment and Beyond

    261
    Andreas Mayer
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    The Language of Emotions: From the Physiognomy of Giovan Battista della Porta to the Neuroscience

    291
    Manuela Gallerani
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    Folk Psychology and Physiognomy: Competing Strategies for Reading Other Minds

    309
    Donald Beecher
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    Index

    329
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
September 23, 2024
eBook ISBN:
9783111240671
Hardcover published on:
September 23, 2024
Hardcover ISBN:
9783111212746
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Front matter:
16
Main content:
332
Illustrations:
1
Coloured Illustrations:
83
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111240671
eBook ISBN: 9783111240671
Hardcover ISBN: 9783111212746
Keywords for this book
Beauty ideals; neurophysiology; cranofacias; Ethnicity
Audience(s) for this book
Students and scholars of the history of medicine, medical humanities, gender studies, and sociology
Safety & product resources
Manufacturer information:
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Genthiner Straße 13
10785 Berlin
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com
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