Sites of autopsy in contemporary culture

193 Pages·2005·4.818 MB·English

by  Klaver, Elizabeth

Sites of
Autopsy
in Contemporary Culture
Elizabeth Klaver
Sites of
Autopsy
in Contemporary Culture

Sites of
Autopsy
in Contemporary Culture
Elizabeth Klaver
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2005 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
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For information, address State University of New York Press,
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Production by Marilyn P. Semerad
Marketing by Susan M. Petrie
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Klaver, Elizabeth.
Sites of autopsy in contemporary culture / Elizabeth Klaver.
p. cm. — (SUNY series in postmodern culture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7914-6425-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-6426-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Autopsy—Social aspects. 2. Autopsy—History. I. Title. II. Series.
RA1063.4.K53 2005
616.07'59—dc22
2004009642
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
for Mike Justesen

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1. Autopsy: A Context 9
2. Performance, Autopsy, and the Performative 37
3. Autopsy and the Subject; or, What the Dead Saw 71
4. Autopsy and the Social: The Case of John F. Kennedy 103
5. Autopsy and the Popular 129
Afterword 155
Notes 157
Works Cited 161
Index 169
vii

Illustrations
FIGURE 1.1. Andreas Vesalius, Title Page to De Humani Corporis 13
Fabrica. U.S. National Library of Medicine.
FIGURE 3.1. Samuel Beckett, Play. An Institute for the 87
Exploration of Virtual Realities production, directed and
designed by Lance Gharavi. Produced at the University of
Kansas, 1996. Permission and photo courtesy of Mark Reaney.
FIGURE 3.2. Hans Holbein the Younger, The Ambassadors. 94
Courtesy of the National Gallery, London.
FIGURE 4.1. President John F. Kennedy autopsy diagram. U.S. 105
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
ix