Maiden Voyage

Nuncius ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-49
Author(s):  
Dario De Santis

AbstractThe scientific debate which developed during the eighteenth century, proposed and diffused new theories on the generation not only within the scientific community. Microscopic investigation and various experimental campaigns fostered daring models attempting to unveil the natural phenomena from which life originates. Besides the famous scientific and philosophical works that marked the age, in the second part of the century two pamphlets appeared that well represent the importance of the querelle about embryological systems defining the concept of generation as a voyage within the human body. Lucina sine concubitu and Juno abortans, respectively published in England and in Germany between 1750 and 1760, narrate the odd and imaginary adventures of two doctors who are trying to interrupt and modify the embryos' journey towards the body of the mother.

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 79-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew McCormack

ABSTRACTHeight is rarely taken seriously by historians. Demographic and archaeological studies tend to explore height as a symptom of health and nutrition, rather than in its own right, and cultural studies of the human body barely study it at all. Its absence from the history of gender is surprising, given that it has historically been discussed within a highly gendered moral language. This paper therefore explores height through the lens of masculinity and focuses on the eighteenth century, when height took on a peculiar cultural significance in Britain. On the one hand, height could be associated with social status, political power and ‘polite’ refinement. On the other, it could connote ambition, militarism, despotism, foreignness and even castration. The article explores these themes through a case-study of John Montagu, earl of Sandwich, who was famously tall and was frequently caricatured as such. As well as exploring representations of the body, the paper also considers corporeal experiences and biometric realities of male height. It argues that histories of masculinity should study both representations of gender and their physical manifestations.


Author(s):  
Igor Tantlevskij

Analyzing the famous passage Eccl. 12:5b–7, the author of the article comes to the conclusion that the expression "the almond tree blossomed" (12:5bα) contains the allegory of man’s birth and his young years; the phrase "the locust/locust tree became loaded" (12:5bβ) can be interpreted as an indication of the mature, productive/fruitful years of human life activity; the allegory of the caper, falling to winter ("and the caper bush fell"; 12:5bγ), correlates with the metaphorical description of old age and the approach of death in Eccl. 12:1b–2. So, one can assume that the passage Eccl. 12:5bα–γ includes the allegories of man's earthly birth, making up of his personality, maturity and old age in the form of natural phenomena that take place in Judea throughout the year — approximately from the second half of January to December. The allegory of the breaking "silver cord" (Eccl. 12:6aα), symbolizing the earthly demise, can be understood as a break in the connection between the spirit and the flesh of man (cf.: Eccl. 12:7). In 12:6аβ–b, Ecclesiastes adduces the allegories of death, expressed through the broken vessels ("golden bowl", "jar", a certain "vessel"), symbolizing the human body. The context also suggests that an allusion to the human spirit implicitly present in these allegories as well, which is symbolized by olive oil (in the "golden bowl") and water (in the "jar" and in the "vessel"), – not directly called, but contextually implied – returning to their eternal Fountain (cf.: Jer. 2:13, 17:13, also: Ps. 36:10) when their temporary receptacles are broken. The "spring" and the "well" (Eccl. 12:6b) are veritable symbols of life, and in the light of Eccl. 12:7b – perhaps symbols of eternal life in the Book of Ecclesiastes. As for the allegory of "the golden bowl", it clearly goes back to Zech. 4:2–3. In the light of the allegorical picture attested in Zech., chap. 4, and the text of Eccl. 12:7b, the allegory of Eccl. 12:6aβ – "the golden bowl will crack" – can presuppose implicitly not only the death of the body/"the golden bowl", but also that its contents – "oil", symbolizing the spirit abided in the body – will merge with the "oil" of the Divine Luminary, scil., with the Spirit of God.


2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 125-130
Author(s):  
Corina Daniela Ene ◽  
◽  
Mircea Penescu ◽  
Emanoil Ceauşu ◽  
Ilinca Nicolae ◽  
...  

Progressive accumulation of uremic toxins in the body exerts a variety of adverse effects on all organs, tissues and systems. The elimination of these compounds from the body is a major goal in the international scientific community. The objectives of this study are: uremic toxins classification, presentation of nocive effects of uremic toxins in human body. This paper is focused on identifying the disorders induced by uremic toxins on metabolism and microcirculation and on finding new therapeutic strategies to prevent the development of complications in uremic patients.


Author(s):  
Iryna Shapovalova

The first definition of biopolitics M. Foucault offered in a series of his lectures on "It is necessary to protect society", which he gave to students at the Collège de France in 1975-1976. Under biopolitics, the scientist understood "a set of processes that include the proportion of births and deaths, the level of reproduction, population growth" [11, p. 257]. It should be noted that in M. Foucault's concept, biopolitics is meaningfully connected with biopower. Central to the concept of biopolitics (biopower) is the state, which provides the conditions for the reproduction of the population, supports its livelihoods and pursues policies in the health care system. Further conceptualization of the phenomena of biopolitics and biopower is due to the research efforts of J. Agamben, A. Negri and many other scientists. According to scholars, the power constructs of bourgeois society and capitalist relations of the late eighteenth century. - early XIX century ensured the socialization of the human body as a labor force and an element of the production process. Society's control over man began to be exercised not only through consciousness, ideology, "but also in the body and with the body." The human body has come to be seen as a biopolitical reality, and medicine with its technology as a political strategy. It should be noted that biopolitics (biopower) is a unique and extremely dynamic phenomenon that is undergoing constant transformation, which causes a constant expansion of the semantic range of biopolitics and biopower in modern social and philosophical discourse.


Author(s):  
Mechthild Fend

This chapter focuses on the significance of skin in neoclassical art and aesthetics. The most distinctive features of neoclassicism - an emphasis on the contour and a preference for more finished surfaces - are understood as elements crucial for the visual formation and understanding of the human body, its surface and borderlines. The culture of neoclassicism, extending well beyond the realm of art and art discourse, was generally characterised by a heightened concern with the shaping of the body and the safeguarding of its boundaries. Skin as the body's physical demarcation, was increasingly perceived not merely as an envelope and organ, but as the boundary of the self. The chapter considers the new attention to skin and contour in late eighteenth-century French art discourse, in particular in Watelet's and Levesque's Dictionnaire des beaux-arts. It equally looks at the discussion of membranes and the definition of skin as ‘sensitive limit‘ in the works of anatomist Xavier Bichat and analyses a set of portraits by Jacques-Louis David painted in the aftermath of the French Revolution.


2019 ◽  
pp. 3-13
Author(s):  
Alexandru Cîtea ◽  
George-Sebastian Iacob

Posture is commonly perceived as the relationship between the segments of the human body upright. Certain parts of the body such as the cephalic extremity, neck, torso, upper and lower limbs are involved in the final posture of the body. Musculoskeletal instabilities and reduced postural control lead to the installation of nonstructural posture deviations in all 3 anatomical planes. When we talk about the sagittal plane, it was concluded that there are 4 main types of posture deviation: hyperlordotic posture, kyphotic posture, rectitude and "sway-back" posture.Pilates method has become in the last decade a much more popular formof exercise used in rehabilitation. The Pilates method is frequently prescribed to people with low back pain due to their orientation on the stabilizing muscles of the pelvis. Pilates exercise is thus theorized to help reactivate the muscles and, by doingso, increases lumbar support, reduces pain, and improves body alignment.


Humaniora ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-90
Author(s):  
Anak Agung Ayu Wulandari ◽  
Ade Ariyani Sari Fajarwati

The research would look further at the representation of the human body in both Balinese and Javanese traditional houses and compared the function and meaning of each part. To achieve the research aim, which was to evaluate and compare the representation of the human body in Javanese and Balinese traditional houses, a qualitative method through literature and descriptive analysis study was conducted. A comparative study approach would be used with an in-depth comparative study. It would revealed not only the similarities but also the differences between both subjects. The research shows that both traditional houses represent the human body in their way. From the architectural drawing top to bottom, both houses show the same structure that is identical to the human body; head at the top, followed by the body, and feet at the bottom. However, the comparative study shows that each area represents a different meaning. The circulation of the house is also different, while the Balinese house is started with feet and continued to body and head area. Simultaneously, the Javanese house is started with the head, then continued to body, and feet area.


Author(s):  
Anastasia Chamberlen

This chapter sketches the broader context of the study presented in this book. It starts with a historical account of imprisonment, focusing particularly on women’s imprisonment, and attempts to trace the centrality of prisoner bodies in the delivery of punishment via the prison since the eighteenth century. Through this brief historiography, it examines how the body has been the object and subject of punishment and, since the start, has been part and parcel of the delivery of imprisonment. More specifically, the chapter argues that, since its establishment, women’s imprisonment has been gendered and embodied. The second half of the chapter looks at more contemporary research on women’s experiences in prison, and unpacks the punishment–body relation by connecting the study’s objectives to extant research on women’s prisons.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1354067X2110040
Author(s):  
Josefine Dilling ◽  
Anders Petersen

In this article, we argue that certain behaviour connected to the attempt to attain contemporary female body ideals in Denmark can be understood as an act of achievement and, thus, as an embodiment of the culture of achievement, as it is characterised in Præstationssamfundet, written by the Danish sociologist Anders Petersen (2016) Hans Reitzels Forlag . Arguing from cultural psychological and sociological standpoints, this article examines how the human body functions as a mediational tool in different ways from which the individual communicates both moral and aesthetic sociocultural ideals and values. Complex processes of embodiment, we argue, can be described with different levels of internalisation, externalisation and materialisation, where the body functions as a central mediator. Analysing the findings from a qualitative experimental study on contemporary body ideals carried out by the Danish psychologists Josefine Dilling and Maja Trillingsgaard, this article seeks to anchor such theoretical claims in central empirical findings. The main conclusions from the study are used to structure the article and build arguments on how expectations and ideals expressed in an achievement society become embodied.


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