Body Image and Identity in Contemporary Societies: Psychoanalytic, social, cultural and aesthetic perspectives

151 Pages·2015·1.4 MB·English

by  Ekaterina Sukhanova

BODY IMAGE AND IDENTITY
IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES
Popular interest in body image issues has grown dramatically in recent years, due to an
emphasis on individual responsibility and self-determination in contemporary society
as well as the seemingly limitless capacities of modern medicine; however, body image
as a separate fi eld of academic inquiry is still relatively young. The contributors of Body
Image and Identity in Contemporary Societies explore the complex social, political and
aesthetic interconnections between body image and identity. It is an in-depth study
that allows for new perspectives in the analysis of contemporary visual art and literature
but also refl ects on how these social constructs inform clinical treatment.
Sukhanova and Thomashoff bring together contributions from psychoanalysts,
psychotherapists, psychiatrists and scholars in the fi elds of the social sciences and the
humanities to explore representations of the body in literature and the arts across
diff erent times and cultures. The chapters analyse the social construction of the ‘ideal’
body in terms of beauty, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class and disability, from a
broadly psychoanalytic perspective, and trace the mechanisms which defi ne the role
of physical appearance in the formation of identity and th e assumption of social roles.
The unique interdisciplinary outlook of Body Image and Identity in Contemporary
Societies aims to bridge the current gap between clinical observations and research
in semiotic theory. It will be of interest to psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, art
therapists, art theorists, academics in the humanities and social sciences, and those
interested in an interdisciplinary approach to the issues of body image and identity.
Ekaterina Sukhanova is University Director of Academic Program Review at
the City University of New York, USA. She serves as Scientifi c Secretary of the
Section for Art and Psychiatry and the Section of Art and Psychiatry of the World
Psychiatric Association. She is also engaged in interdisciplinary research on cultural
constructs of mental health and illness and curates exhibitions of art brut as a vehicle
for fi ghting stigma.
Hans-Otto Thomashoff was born in Germany and lives in Vienna. He is a
psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, art historian and author of fi ction and non-fi ction
books. He has been curator of several art exhibitions highlighting the connection
between the psyche and art as well as President of the Section of Art and Psychiatry
of the World Psychiatric Association and advisory committee member of the
Sigmund Freud Foundation, Vienna.
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BODY IMAGE
AND IDENTITY IN
CONTEMPORARY
SOCIETIES
Psychoanalytic, social, cultural and
aesthetic perspectives
Edited by Ekaterina Sukhanova and
Hans-Otto Thomashoff
RO Routledge
U
TLED Taylor & Francis Group
G
E
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2015
by Routledge
27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2FA
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 Ekaterina Sukhanova and Hans-Otto Thomashoff
The right of the editors to be identifi ed as the authors of the editorial
material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted
in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Body image and identity in contemporary societies : psychoanalytic, social,
cultural and aesthetic perspectives / edited by Hans-Otto Thomashoff and
Ekaterina Sukhanova.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Body image. 2. Identity (Psychology) I. Thomashoff , Hans-Otto, editor.
II. Sukhanova, Ekaterina, editor.
BF697.5.B63B61853 2015
306.4(cid:2)613--dc23
2014034878
ISBN: 978-0-415-74290-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-74291-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-72418-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby
CONTENTS
Notes on the contributors vii
From the editors x
1 How the brain creates art and dreams 1
Hans-Otto Thomashoff
2 Norm(s) and the function of outsider art 11
Ekaterina Sukhanova
3 Body and identity: objects of redemption in today’s unrest 17
Angélique Christaki
4 Contemporary body: medicine to modern art 22
Rémy Potier
5 Physical disability in the collective imagination 30
William Ebenstein
6 The disabled body in contemporary society 40
Simone Korff Sausse
7 Body image and identity in victims of extreme violence 49
Régine Waintrater
vi Contents
8 The body and AIDS transformed into a work of art by
Hervé Guibert 55
Anne Brun
9 The ‘composite body’ in contemporary art 65
Catherine Desprats Péquignot
10 T he multiple bodies of Michael Jackson:
a paradigm for understanding postmodern society? 73
Silke Schauder
11 F rom catharsis to the cathartic: towards a post-dramatic
theory of representation 86
Renata Mattos-Avril and Jean-Michel Vives
12 M odifi ed images of the body: new forms of identity with a
note on the cadavers of Gunther Von Hagens 95
Céline Masson
13 O f beauty and ‘beauties’: female identities and body image
in Colombia 104
Alcira Forero-Peña
14 Tattoos/hysteria 115
Jeanne Wolff Bernstein
15 Body in art and art therapy: humorous presentations 122
Alexander Kopytin
Index 137
CONTRIBUTORS
Anne Brun, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychopathology and Clinical Psychology
Director of the Centre for Research in Psychopathology and Clinical Psychology,
University Lumière-Lyon 2, Lyons, France
Angélique Christaki, Ph.D.
Psychoanalyst and Clinical Psychologist
Associated Researcher and Lecturer,
University of Paris VII Diderot, Paris, France
Catherine Desprats Péquignot, Ph.D.
Practicing Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalyst
Associate Professor of Clinical Psychopathology and Psychoanalysis,
University of Paris VII Diderot, Paris, France
William Ebenstein, Ph.D.
University Dean for Health and Human Services,
City University of New York, New York, USA
Alcira Forero-Peña, Ph.D.
Adjunct Assistant Professor in Anthropology,
City University of New York, New York, USA
viii Contributors
Alexander Kopytin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor,
Academy of Post-Graduate Pedagogical Education and North-West Medical
Mechnikov University, St. Petersburg, Russia
Vice-Chair of the Section on Art and Psychiatry,
World Psychiatric Association
Simone Korff Sausse, Ph.D.
Practicing Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalyst
Associate Professor, Psychoanalytical Studies,
University of Paris VII Diderot, Paris, France
Céline Masson, Ph.D.
Practicing Psychoanalyst, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychopathology and
Psychoanalysis,
University of Paris VII Diderot, Paris, France
Clinical Psychologist,
Socio-Medical Center OSE, Paris, France
Renata Mattos-Avril, Ph.D.
Doctor in Psychoanalysis,
Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Post-Doctoral Researcher,
University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, Nice, France
Rémy Potier, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist, Practicing Psychoanalyst and Associate Professor,
Psychopathology,
University of Paris VII Diderot, Paris, France
Silke Schauder, Ph.D.
Professor of Clinical Psychology and Psychopathology,
University de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France
Ekaterina Sukhanova, Ph.D.
University Director, Academic Program Review, Articulation and Transfer,
City University of New York, New York, USA
Vice-President, Section on Art and Psychiatry
Secretary, Section on Literature and Psychiatry
World Psychiatric Association
Contributors ix
Hans-Otto Thomashoff , M.D., Ph.D.
Psychiatrist, Psychoanalyst, Art Historian;
Advisory Committee Member, Sigmund Freud Foundation, Vienna, Austria
President of the Section on Art and Psychiatry,
World Psychiatric Association
Jean-Michel Vives, Ph.D.
Professor of Clinical and Pathological Psychology,
University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, Nice, France
Régine Waintrater, Ph.D.
Psychoanalyst, Associate Professor,
University of Paris VII Diderot, Paris, France
Jeanne Wolff Bernstein, Ph.D.
Practicing Psychoanalyst, Faculty Member,
The Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California, USA
Practicing Psychoanalyst, Faculty Member,
Sigmund Freud University, Vienna, Austria