Embodied Lives: Figuring Ancient Maya and Egyptian Experience

Description

Ancient Maya and Egyptian cultures present evidence of similar concerns with body and self: monumental art depicts complex costume and standards of beauty, and ornaments, cosmetics, and items of dress used by the living are recovered in tombs in which the bodies of the dead were arrayed. Despite the centrality of such practices, these two civilizations had very different ways of treating, understanding and experiencing the body. Taking bodily materiality as a crucial starting point to the understanding and formation of self in any society, Lynn Meskell and Rosemary Joyce offer a new approach to both civilizations centred on understanding embodiment. They examine a wide range of archaeological data, using it to explore issues such as the sexual body, mind/body dualism, body modification, and magical practices. Drawing on insights from feminist theory, art history, phenomenology, anthropology and psychoanalysis, the book sheds new light on Ancient Egyptian and Maya cultures. Theorising the body across two cultures, this book shows how a comparative project can open up new lines of inquiry by raising questions about accepted assumptions. Drawing attention to the long-term histories and specificities of embodiment, it makes the case for the importance of ancient materials for contemporary theorisation of the body.

'Extremely innovative...a major contribution to archaeological study of the body' - Roberta Gilchrist, University of Reading 'Makes out a powerful case for a mutually enriching dialogue between Mayan and Egyptian materials...a unique and daring book which uses some of the most fascinating ancient data of all' - Dominic Montserrat, Open University 'An exciting and timely treatment of ideas on embodiment in Ancient Maya and Egyptian society' Wendy Ashmore, University of California 'A remarkable book...it establishes a new feild of inquiry and provides a conceptual map for re-organising and redirecting the work of archaeologists. Lynn Meskell and Rosemary Joyce take a decisive stand on how this field should develop' - Bryan S. Turner, University of Cambridge