Human bodies have been represented and defined in various ways across different cultures and historical periods. As an object of interpretation and site of social interaction, the body has throughout history attracted more attention than perhaps any other element of human experience. The essays in this volume explore the manifestations of the body in Italian society from the fourteenth through the seventeenth centuries. Adopting a variety of interdisciplinary approaches, these fresh and thought-provoking essays offer original perspectives on corporeality as understood in the early modern literature, art, architecture, science, and politics of Italy. An impressively diverse group of contributors comment on a broad range and variety of conceptualizations of the body, creating a rich dialogue among scholars of early modern Italy. Contributors: Albert R. Ascoli, University of California, Berkeley; Douglas Biow, The University of Texas at Austin; Margaret Brose, University of California, Santa Cruz; Anthony Colantuono, University of Maryland, College Park; Elizabeth Horodowich, New Mexico State University; Sergius Kodera, New Design University, St. Polten, Austria; Jeanette Kohl, University of California, Riverside; D. Medina Lasansky, Cornell University; Luca Marcozzi, Roma Tre University; Ronald L. Martinez, Brown University; Katharine Park, Harvard University; Sandra Schmidt, Free University of Berlin; Bette Talvacchia, University of Connecticut

About the Author
Julia L. Hairston is the associate academic director of the University of California, Rome Study Center, where she teaches courses in Italian literature. She has published articles in Renaissance Quarterly, Exemplaria, and MLN and is coeditor of Gendered Contexts: New Perspectives in Italian Cultural Studies. Walter Stephens is the Charles S. Singleton Professor of Italian Studies at the Johns Hopkins University and author of Demon Lovers: Witchcraft, Sex, and the Crisis of Belief and Giants in Those Days: Folklore, Ancient History, and Nationalism.

Reviews
A highly insightful look into history and art, a top pick for such collections for both community and college libraries. Midwest Book Review 2010 A collection for those interested in Italian and comparative literature, early modern studies, cultural history, or gender studies. Recommended. Choice 2010 The broad scope of the essays and the questions they raise will be of compelling importance to any reader interested in the Renaissance, not only the Italian Renaissance, and to scholars across the disciplines from literature, performance, art history, and philosophy to sexuality, gender studies, and science. -- Bella Mirabella Clio 2010



Book Information
ISBN 9780801894145
Author Julia L. Hairston
Format Hardback
Page Count 448
Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press
Weight(grams) 771g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 33mm