The Cambridge Companion to the Body in Literature

Download or read book The Cambridge Companion to the Body in Literature written by David Hillman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-05-19 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Companion offers the first systematic analysis of the representation of the body in literature. It historicizes embodiment by charting our evolving understanding of the body from the Middle Ages to the present day, and addresses such questions as sensory perception, technology, language and affect; maternal bodies, disability and the representation of ageing; eating and obesity, pain, death and dying; and racialized and posthuman bodies. This Companion also considers science and its construction of the body through disciplines such as obstetrics, sexology and neurology. Leading scholars in the field devote special attention to poetry, prose, drama and film, and chart a variety of theoretical understandings of the body.