The History of the Body. In 3 Volumes. Volume 1. From the Renaissance to the Age of Enlightenment

The three-volume "History of the Body," written by French, British, and American anthropologists and cultural historians, comprehensively examines bodily practices in Europe — from the Renaissance to the present day. How attitudes toward the body changed over the centuries, how... the body was viewed by religion, medicine, folk culture, and art; how the body was expected to behave and manifest itself; which social and sexual practices were encouraged and which were forbidden; how the body of the monarch differed from that of the commoner — all this is discussed in a major study edited by Alain Corbin, Jean-Jacques Courtine, and Georges Vigarello. The first volume is dedicated to the history of the body from the Renaissance to the Age of Enlightenment and describes the formation of the European image of the "modern" body. The history of the body is examined here from various aspects: body and religion, body and society, body and sexuality, body and medicine, body and play, body and power.