Corporeal Colonialism and Corporal Punishment: A cross-cultural perspective on body modification
Abstract
This article addresses the re-marking of corporeal surfaces and subjectivities under colonialism using a cross-cultural perspective. It provides, in part, a historical perspective on the interest in intentional body modification in the West today. Its focus is on the attempted remoulding of Indigenous bodies in Burma under (British) colonial rule and in Australia as a British colony and independent settler colony, with attention, in particular to skin, and the reinscribing of corporeal surfaces. In the colonial context skin, an unstable surface marking the boundary of the body, is a uniquely important locus for social and ...
View more >This article addresses the re-marking of corporeal surfaces and subjectivities under colonialism using a cross-cultural perspective. It provides, in part, a historical perspective on the interest in intentional body modification in the West today. Its focus is on the attempted remoulding of Indigenous bodies in Burma under (British) colonial rule and in Australia as a British colony and independent settler colony, with attention, in particular to skin, and the reinscribing of corporeal surfaces. In the colonial context skin, an unstable surface marking the boundary of the body, is a uniquely important locus for social and political activity.
View less >
View more >This article addresses the re-marking of corporeal surfaces and subjectivities under colonialism using a cross-cultural perspective. It provides, in part, a historical perspective on the interest in intentional body modification in the West today. Its focus is on the attempted remoulding of Indigenous bodies in Burma under (British) colonial rule and in Australia as a British colony and independent settler colony, with attention, in particular to skin, and the reinscribing of corporeal surfaces. In the colonial context skin, an unstable surface marking the boundary of the body, is a uniquely important locus for social and political activity.
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Journal Title
Social Semiotics
Volume
17
Issue
3
Publisher URI
Subject
Communication and Media Studies
Cultural Studies
Other Language, Communication and Culture