The Cambridge Companion to the Body in Literature

This Companion offers the first systematic analysis of the body in literature, from the Middle Ages to the present day.

David Hillman (Edited by), Ulrika Maude (Edited by)

9781107048096, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 26 May 2015

294 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.52 kg

'[The Cambridge Companion to the Body in Literature] is a worthy addition to the already-rich series of the Cambridge Companions to Literature. Although, the focus of this work is clearly on literature, this collection has huge potential. It is likely to be appreciated by people working in the medical humanities, as well as medical education. Linguists, social scientists and students of religion and history are also likely to benefit from it. All the contributions are clear, concise and yet very informative and, among other things, will be of great help to anyone wishing to be au fait with the latest literature in this expanding field. Well done to Cambridge University Press for commissioning such a work, and to the editor and contributors for an excellent book.' Simone Bacchini, Reference Review

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.

1. Medieval somatics Bill Burgwinkle
2. Disability Jonathan Hsy
3. Staging early modern embodiment David Hillman
4. Eating, obesity and literature Maud Ellmann
5. The body and language Andrew Bennett
6. The maternal body Clare Hanson
7. Literary sexualities Heike Bauer
8. The body, pain, and violence Peter Fifield
9. The ageing body Elizabeth Barry
10. Representing dead and dying bodies Sander Gilman
11. The racialized body David Marriott
12. Literature, technology and the senses Steven Connor
13. Literature and neurology Ulrika Maude
14. Psychoanalytic bodies Josh Cohen
15. The body and affect Jean-Michael Rabaté
16. Posthuman bodies Paul Sheehan.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB], Literary theory [DSA], Theory of art [ABA]