scholarly journals Two bodies or one? Reconsidering the anthropological idea of dichotomization as the basic mechanism of cultural thought about the body

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 849
Author(s):  
Bojan Žikić

In contemporary anthropology there are two prevailing ideas on the ways in which the human body is culturally thought of: dualism and monism. The first idea is linked to Western societies, and the second is linked to traditional communities, which are the most frequent frame of reference for anthropological research, from the inception of the discipline up to contemporary times. The third, less prevalent idea suggests that there is no substantial difference between these different types of society, that all people, essentially, think about the body in a dualist way. The idea behind this paper is to set a basis for research which might come to show that, indeed, there is no substantial difference between ways in which people conceptualize the body and its cultural aspects in different societies, but that this is not the case because "we are all dualists", but because both dualist and monist cultural conceptualization of the body is contextual, and both of these can be found in societies and cultures which we signify as "modern" or "western".

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 40-55
Author(s):  
Daniel Paul O'Brien

This paper addresses the performance of bodies through a postphenomenological framework developed by Don Ihde. Through his theory, I will argue how performance is central to the stories of two recent interactive artworks: Dennis Del Favero's Scenario (2011) and Blast Theory's A Machine to See With (2010). Both artworks are distinct interactive narratives that utilize the human body in different ways. In each experience, it is essential for the user's body to perform with a technology in order to move the story through a sequence of events. In doing so the user as a performing body co-authors the story by interfacing with a technology in a specific way. My readings of the artworks are based on interviews that I have conducted with each of the artists. I pair these accounts with Ihdeian analysis to explain how different types of technologies and different uses of a technology break down into different human-technology relationships. I use these relationships to show how the story in each artwork is mobilized through the body of the participant as a postphenomenological performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 53-64
Author(s):  
Ramil R. Amerkhanov ◽  
Radislav R. Amerkhanov

Physical rehabilitation, by the foot method of body systemic mobilization, is a new medical technology. In connection with the current global unstable infectious situation, the need arose again to return to the question of finding and developing a systematic approach of simple and generally available physical methods. Aim. Analyze and evaluate the effect of the method of systemic mobilization of the body with the foot on the immune system of the human body, in order to prevent and rehabilitate post-infectious conditions. Material and methods. The research was carried out in various climatic zones. The procedures were based on the techniques of the first, second and third orders, in the second and third age groups. The first group consisted of patients of the second age group (13-60 years old). The second study group was represented by the third age group (60 years +). Materials of the first age group (up to 13 years old) were not submitted to the analysis. The method of exposure stipulated only the canonical motion direction in the selected sessions, the session lasted within 40-70 minutes, every day, for 10-30 days, taking into account weight, age and chronic diseases. 237 male and female patients’ material was reviewed and analyzed. Results and discussion. The method of systemic mobilization of the body exposed to the foot showed more significant positive results in the second age group - 92.8% and less in the third – 78.6% . To achieve positive results, it took more procedures 4 ± 1.0 in a humid climate compared to a dry one. It has been approved that accelerated blood flow in the main and collateral vessels triggers the activity of the lymphatic system. In the primary lymphoid organs, the hematopoietic function is restored and increased, optimizing lymphopoiesis and the state of lymphodynamics. Techniques of the first order (level) restore the flow of lymph through the superficial lymphatic vessels, collecting and producing outflow of lymph from the skin, subcutaneous tissue, superficial fascia and the surface layer of muscle fibers.Techniques of the second order (level) affect the lymph flow of deep lymphatic vessels, collecting lymph from muscles, joints and bones, producing outflow from deeply located tissues, lymphatic vessels lying along the arteries and veins of the same name, actively anastomosing with a network of superficial lymphatic vessels. Techniques of the III order (level) promote lymph flow through the lymphatic capillaries, from intra- and extra-organ lymphatic vessels, trunks and ducts. These techniques create conditions for accelerating drainage in the thoracic duct, producing an “emptying” effect by a direct physical coercion on the vertebral column, penetrating deeply. Conclusion. This method has statistically confirmed studies that indicate its ability to significantly increase the speed of blood flow in the main and adjacent vessels. The method can be considered as having a positive effect on lymphodynamics, in particular on lymphatic capillaries emanating from intra- and extra organ lymphatic vessels, trunks and ducts. By increasing the transport function of the lymphatic vessels, providing a full blood supply (nutrition) to the primary organs of the lymphatic system, exerting a stimulating effect on the spirally oriented lymphangion myocytes, in a soft and carefully worked out way, the foot method of systemic body mobilization creates optimal conditions for the correction of the immune system. Thus, it is able to protect the internal environment of the human body from foreign agents.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 3-9
Author(s):  
Igor A. Isaev ◽  

The author demonstrates the fluctuations in the position of authority in modern and contemporary times, when the medieval model of “two bodies of the king,” or “two bodies of power” is relinquished. The article demonstrates how the formerly valid analogy between the body of the world and the human body began to disappear. This was facilitated by the scientific discourse of the 16th –17th centuries, which presented the body as an “organic machine” endowed with universal functions and structure.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 196-209
Author(s):  
Constantin MUNTEANU ◽  
Droteea TEOIBAS-SERBAN ◽  
Liviu IORDACHE ◽  
Mariana BALAUREA ◽  
Corneliu-Dan BLENDEA

Background. The average adult human body of 70 kilograms consists in about 67.85% water distributed evenly to an average of 70 % in all major organs of the body: skin, muscles, brain, spinal cord, liver, heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys, pancreas and gastro-intestinal tract. A smaller percentage is found in the bones (30%), teeth (5%) and fat tissue (50%). Objective. This review article attempts to present different perspectives on the physiological properties of water in the human body. We describe from the ancient Chinese medicine theory about water being one of the 5 elements of nature and its harmonious interrelation with the other elements in order to balance the human body, to the successful experiments of researchers which demonstrated waters’ capability to change its molecular structure based on feelings, intentions and energy it was exposed to. We briefly describe the role of water for the human body and what effects can the lack of it have, especially dehydration with all the phases of severity. Also, we present the health benefits of drinking water and which type of water is best to consume. We shorty review the different types of natural mineral waters in Romania and the importance of the Romanian researches for balneology and how the waters cand be administrated in crenotherapy for different types of pathologies. Methods. To elaborate our systematic review, we have searched for relevant open access articles and review articles in ISI Web of Science, published from January 2017 until August 2021. The terms used were water AND health in the title. Articles were excluded in the second phase if they did not reach the relevance citation criterion. The eligible articles were analyzed in detail regarding water importance for human health. Results. Our search identified, first, 548 articles. After applying a PEDro like selection filter and, we selected 93 articles with a minimum of 8 points on our PEDro like filtering scale (good, very good, and excellent articles with a minimum of 5 citations per year). Detailed analysis of the 93 selected articles has conducted us to the elimination of 33 of them as being on a different subject than that of our article. To the 60 full articles retained for this systematic and synthetic article, we have added 10 articles found through a separate Google search, as being considered of high relevance for our subject and necessary to be included. Conclusions. Water is essential for the entire planet and also indispensable for the survival of the human body. Keywords: water intake, water balance, body water, water molecular structure, dehydration, crenotherapy


2010 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. E2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Romero-Vargas ◽  
José Luis Ruiz-Sandoval ◽  
Arturo Sotomayor-González ◽  
Rogelio Revuelta-Gutiérrez ◽  
Miguel Angel Celis-López ◽  
...  

Induced deformation of the cranial vault is one form of permanent alteration of the body that has been performed by human beings from the beginning of history as a way of differentiating from others. These procedures have been observed in different cultures, but were particularly widespread in Mesoamerica. The authors examined and reviewed the historical and anthropological literature of intentional deformation practices in Mayan culture. The Mayans performed different types of cranial deformations and used different techniques and instruments to deform children's heads. The most remarkable morphological alteration is seen in the flattening of the frontal bone. Some archeological investigations link deformation types with specific periods. This article provides a glance at the cultural environment of the Mayans and demonstrates the heterogeneity of this interesting cultural phenomenon, which has changed over time.


2021 ◽  
pp. 162-172
Author(s):  
Zulfiya Z. Ibragimova

The statement about human nature is the subject of numerous discussions, which, however, does not negate the presence of the substrate of its origin, manifestations, specificity, and real dynamics in space and time. In the process of analysis, we find a lot of arguments that confirm this fact, as well as a decent number of counterarguments. In this article, a priori, we proceed from the validity of the existence of the term "human nature", recognizing its ambiguity. Of course, our stated physicality as an aspect of human nature does not exhaust the idea of his nature. The nominal division into soul, spirit, etc. gives us some methodological tools. No more than that. Physicality, in its turn, requires problematization. "Physicality "is a category that denotes what a given human body naturally becomes in the course of its social modifications, so this category can certainly not be considered outside of conjunction with another very important category - "spirituality". These concepts, as well as the phenomena they denote, are interrelated (MORGAN 2006). In our review, there are three main ways to interpret "Physicality". Firstly, it is the only factuality that initially claims the ontological status. Secondly, it is part of a harmonious whole that includes all non-corporeal things. I would like to focus on the third aspect, which includes at least three principles. Thirdly, physicality changes its seemingly simple "fate" dramatically, turning into a problem as a way of human existence. This can be interpreted "as a creative act of overcoming oneself". Only this overcoming of the present self presupposes a reliance on its relevance and reality. This ontologically conditioned event is always self-based. In this sense, the body as a creative phenomenon " never appears just by its own. Yet it is precisely overcoming that is the constitutive feature of human existence. A man is bigger than himself. We can say that the problem is a way of human existence. The problem in the most primitive form can be expressed as "I already want to, but I can't yet". Where does the desire come from if the object of desire (the desired situation) is not yet available? How can you want something that doesn't exist yet and never has? The man himself is a few steps ahead (BUBLIK, 2006). Human rationality is based not only on reflectivity, but also on the ability of a person to operate with ideas that do not have objective visibility (for example, the ultimate category of being). Thus, man proves his metaphysicality: "man's metaphysics expresses not only the presence of the supernatural dimension in man but also his ability to determine himself, to be his own creation". The main methods used in writing the article: the unity of historical and logical, the method of reflection.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 96-102
Author(s):  
L Kodaneva ◽  
N Ratkina

Aim. The article deals with assessing the effect of different types of motor activity performed during physical education classes on myopia development. Materials and methods. 42 female university students aged 18 years participated in the study. All participants are characterized by acquired uncomplicated myopia. Three homogenous groups of fourteen were formed. The first group performed Nordic walking at PE classes, the second group used a fitness game (Just Dance), the third group was exempted from attending practical PE classes. All female students underwent an ophthalmic examination at the beginning and at the end of the study. The level of physical development and functional abilities of the body was established in all participants. The assessment was conducted based on the dynamics of indicators. Results. It was established that Nordic walking and lessons with a fitness game (Just Dance) did not influence significantly myopia development (р > 0.05). In the first group, myopia development was registered at the level of 0.34 diopter/year, and in the second group – 0.31 diopter/year. However, the comparison of the data obtained with those of the third group revealed a statistically significant difference (р < 0.01). Myopia development in the group exempted from attending practical PE classes was 0.75 diopter/year. Positive dynamics in motor coordination was registered in 57.1% of the first group and 64.3% of the second group. The majority of people from these groups demonstrated an increase in the indicators of the muscular strength of the leading arm and chest excursion. Moreover, more significant changes were registered for the group with a fitness game (Just Dance). The indicators of the third group remained at the same level or even worsened. Conclusion. Different types of motor activity at PE classes reduce  myopia development approximately in the same way. A negative dynamics reveled for certain indicators in the third group can be probably determined by the deficit of motor activity due to huge academic load.


2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-126

The article deals with some problems in the works of Bruno Latour and Michel Foucault as they considered the body and biopower. To dispose of the Foucauldian concept of biopower, Latour proposed his theory of the body as a dynamic object constantly learning to be open to new articulations. The author points out the gaps in Latour’s solution and develops her own in order to return biopower into the realm of actor network theory. The body is to be understood as the privileged object in actor network theory, while both biopower and resistance to it are two fundamental and interrelated groups of articulations that allow the body to support the unlimited expansion of the network. This theory is validated by succeeding in three tasks. The first is to show that Latour’s definition of the human body has implications that are important both for his work with biopower and for actor network theory as a whole. The body in the actor network theory has a special status compared to any other objects, and this is the very reason that the control of biopower over the body plays such an important role. Only the body possesses the necessary “bandwidth” - the ability to bring into the network what is not in it. The second task is to compare the concepts of body and biopower in Latour and Foucault and partially translate them into each other’s terms. The third and last task involves deciding whether the body resists biopower through the logic of actor network theory, or whether the acquisition of a body is the only possible act of power. The article concludes with a demonstration of how the available theoretical resources can be used to describe the current coronavirus situation.


1970 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Sanjoy Kumar Chakraborty ◽  
Laila Anjuman Banu

Ultimately, every cell in the human body can be traced back to a fertilized egg that came into existence from the union of ovum and sperm. But the body is made up of over 200 different types of cells, not just one. All of these cell types come from a pool of cells in the early embryo, called stem cells. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bja.v9i1.8138 Bangladesh Journal of Anatomy January 2011, Vol. 9 No. 1 pp 1-4


2013 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-299
Author(s):  
Jürgen Hunkemöller

The recognition of topoi, i.e. traditional formulae, is an important means of musical analysis. To illustrate this, the paper discusses the types of the battaglia and the pastoral in Bach’s Cantata Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ, and briefly enumerates different types of allusions to jazz in 20th-century compositions by Stravinsky, Milhaud, Blacher, Tippet, and Zimmermann. Then it raises the possibility of an analysis of topoi in Bartók’s music in four main categories. It considers Bartók’s musical quotations from Bach to Shostakovich; the chorale as special topos appearing in Mikrokosmos, in the Concerto for Orchestra, in the Adagio religioso of the Third Piano Concerto; the topos-like employment of the tritone; and finally the idea of a Bartókian Arcadia in the Finale of Music for Strings, and the integration of bird song in the Adagio religioso.


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