What is a body?
What does it mean to touch a body?
What does it mean to have/be an untouchable body?
What does it mean to touch a body?
What does it mean to have/be an untouchable body?
‘Bodies’ can refer to any number of things, from our own, human bodies, to collective bodies of people, to other bodies such as textual corpuses. In each case, we can ask, what does it mean to touch a body? Is it merely a physical act of contact, or if not, then is a ‘body’ something non-physical and conceptual? How, then, can we be said to ‘touch’ a ‘body’?
Taking these questions further, in the case of human bodies, is it necessarily ethical to ‘touch’ a ‘body’? In what sense are bodies ‘untouchable’, both at the level of the skin as a surface, but also going anatomically deeper? Are bodies sacred? Is it (or when is it) taboo to touch a body? Can we indeed ‘touch’ a ‘body’ here; should we be able to, or do we even engage with a ‘body’ at this level in any sense?
These questions coalesced in this unique and interdisciplinary symposium for PGRs, to be held at the John Rylands Library, Deansgate, where we drew on the ‘bodies’ of texts in the Special Collections that ‘touch’ on the issues raised above. Reflecting on sources such as Vesalius, and William Blake, delegates discussed what we mean by ‘bodies’, and in what sense they could be regarded as ‘untouchable’.
At the symposium, we placed an emphasis on discussion and networking, bringing together a range of perspectives and approaches fruitfully under the question of bodies and their ‘untouchability’. This was reflected in the structure of the day, which included looking at and discussing items from JRL's unique special collections, and presented papers with time for discussion.
We hope that the discussions and insights that emerged from this symposium will be fruitful in solidifying a ‘body’ of scholars from a range of disciplines interested in this theme and act a stimulus for further collaborative initiatives (which may include further symposia, a larger-scale conference and/or reading groups).
If you were unable to attend the symposium but are interested in information about future initiatives, please get in touch via the conference email address: [email protected].
Taking these questions further, in the case of human bodies, is it necessarily ethical to ‘touch’ a ‘body’? In what sense are bodies ‘untouchable’, both at the level of the skin as a surface, but also going anatomically deeper? Are bodies sacred? Is it (or when is it) taboo to touch a body? Can we indeed ‘touch’ a ‘body’ here; should we be able to, or do we even engage with a ‘body’ at this level in any sense?
These questions coalesced in this unique and interdisciplinary symposium for PGRs, to be held at the John Rylands Library, Deansgate, where we drew on the ‘bodies’ of texts in the Special Collections that ‘touch’ on the issues raised above. Reflecting on sources such as Vesalius, and William Blake, delegates discussed what we mean by ‘bodies’, and in what sense they could be regarded as ‘untouchable’.
At the symposium, we placed an emphasis on discussion and networking, bringing together a range of perspectives and approaches fruitfully under the question of bodies and their ‘untouchability’. This was reflected in the structure of the day, which included looking at and discussing items from JRL's unique special collections, and presented papers with time for discussion.
We hope that the discussions and insights that emerged from this symposium will be fruitful in solidifying a ‘body’ of scholars from a range of disciplines interested in this theme and act a stimulus for further collaborative initiatives (which may include further symposia, a larger-scale conference and/or reading groups).
If you were unable to attend the symposium but are interested in information about future initiatives, please get in touch via the conference email address: [email protected].