Red: An Ethnographic Study of Cross-Pollination Between the Vedic and the Tantric

International Journal of Hindu Studies - This essay explores the connections between Tantric rites and those of Indian tribal religions with “blood” as the central subject. Rooted in...     

Eradicated with Blood: Text and Context of Animal Sacrifice in Tantric and Tantra-Influenced Rituals

International Journal of Hindu Studies - This essay discusses transformations in the ritual use of blood offerings from late medieval to contemporary Tantric and Tantra-influenced traditions....     

Body Poly-texts: Discourses of the Anorexic Body

It is now increasingly acknowledged that anorexia nervosa is a ‘culture-bound syndrome’ which must be understood within the context of an increasing idealization of female thinness and a high prevalence of dieting and body dissatisfaction, particularly amongst women and girls. Whilst this socioculturally-oriented perspective is important, it is also simplistic to conceptualize anorexia simply as a ‘slimmer's disease’. The ways in which contemporary Western culture is imbricated in anorexia are both complex and multiple. This paper uses a discourse-analytic approach, informed by feminist Foucauldian theory, to examine some of the multiple and often conflicting meanings and discursive constructions of the (female) anorexic body. The paper is based on a series of interviews conducted with 23 women (21 diagnosed as anorexic and 2 self-diagnosed). The analysis focuses on the explication of two discourses: a romantic discourse and a discourse of Cartesian dualism evidenced in the interviews. By contrasting the very different ways in which these two discourses constitute the anorexic body, this paper aims to provide thereby a socioculturally contextualized and gender-oriented account of the multiple discursive constructions of ‘anorexia nervosa’ and ‘anorexic’ bodies. Implications for psychotherapeutic interventions are discussed.     

Categorizing the Body

I shall attempt to do four things in this paper:

(1) sketch the influence of two models—one essentialist, the other non-essentialist—on some contemporary ways of categorizing the body;

(2) indicate certain tensions that remain because of the dominant influence of the essentialist model;

(3) discuss what to my mind is the most sustained attempt by phenomenology to come to terms with the problem of the body by concentrating on Merleau-Ponty's theory of operative intentionality;

(4) argue that intentionality and ontological analysis must always be distortive of this issue, and indicate an alternative way of approaching the matter.     

身体之为"窍":宋明儒学中的身体本体论建构

在先秦儒学与医学之中,身体之“窍”（七窍／九窍）被视为“精神”的“孔窍”、“门户”与“通道”,它们内根于“五脏”,外联于天地之气。保持“孔窍”的通畅,无论对“卫生”,抑或对“修身”均意味重要。其中,耳、目、口三窍尤为儒家修身所注重。阴阳五行理论兴起后,身体之“窍”与天地万物之“窍”之间的同构关系得到彰显。 在承继前人五脏“开窍于目”、“开窍于耳”、“开窍于口”、“开窍于鼻”、“开窍于二阴”这一思想基础上,理学家一方面深刻挖掘出身体之窍的本体论向度,提出一个完整的“天地之心”的发窍路线图：“天地之心”发窍于人心,人心（通过五脏六腑）发窍于耳目口鼻四肢这一连续性的发窍结构,并借助于汉儒身体之“窍”与天地万物之“窍”之间的同构关系思想,揭示出天地之心一人心（灵窍）一七窍一体结构的时间性（“七窍”、“灵窍”与天地万物的运作的同步性）,另一方面,呈现出丰富的“七窍”与“心窍”修身经验,这些经验极大丰富了孔孟“四勿”与“践形”功夫。 儒家强调身体之窍、心窍的“虚”、“无”性格,与萨特所代表的意识现象学有着本质的区别。儒家“通身是窍”的理念折射出儒家的“主体性”乃是扎根于生生不已、大化流行之中与他者、天地万物相互感应、相互应答的身心一如的存在,这种主体性本身就嵌在身体之中,无论是“惕然动乎中,赧然见乎色”之耻感,抑或是“恻然动乎中”之“不忍”、“悯恤”、“顾惜”之同感,乃至生意津津之一体生命的生机畅遂感、乐感,皆是深深嵌入身体之中“觉情”与“实感”。儒家身体的这种本体论向度,不仅迥异于Hans Jonas所批评的存在主义的虚无主义精神气质,而且为克服这种虚无主义提供了深厚的理论资源。     

Body Without End: Biological Mutualism and the Body of Christ

This article argues that the ecological turn towards biological mutualism enlivens our understanding of the eschatological promise contained in Christ’s resurrected and ascended body. I examine the implications of proposing that Christ’s body was not only incarnate as microbiome, but also rose and ascended as microbiome. First, I analyse contemporary approaches to Christology’s relation to creation and Andrew Davison’s theological exploration of mutualism. I then respond via Irenaeus’ defence of Christ’s bodily resurrection and ascension as promise for all flesh. By reading Irenaeus in light of the mutualistic body, we enrich our understanding of this promise: of fruitfulness for all creation, of fullness for human nature, and that fleshly life is no ultimate barrier to union with God. Finally, I propose that this reading also offers renewed insight into the Eucharist: this promise and its implications are also made manifest at the heart of the church, Christ’s body on earth.     

The Silence of the Body

As a practice meant to release the subject from the narcissism that informs the concerns and preoccupations of her or his ego, psychoanalysis aims at a transformation of the subject comparable to the Buddha's quest for enlightenment. In order to clarify this subtle and difficult dimension of psychoanalytic work, this essay draws upon a clinical example and discusses it in the context of both Freud's and Lacan's ideas about the role of narcissism in the formation of the ego, and the Buddha's doctrine of Anatta, which insists that the concept of the Atman, or self, is based upon an illusory thought.     

Exploring the Relationship Between Autistic Traits and Body Image,Body Satisfaction,and Body Competence

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been linked to bodily disorders (anorexia nervosa, obesity), and individuals with ASD are known to experience unique bodily states (e.g., exaggerated interoceptive sensitivity). Though there is evidence to suggest body variables may significantly impact quality of life in those with ASD, research has yet to examine the potential relationship between ASD and body image variables, that is, the evaluation of one's body. The present study examined 80 healthy college students (40 male, 40 female) who completed an online set of questionnaires regarding body image and satisfaction, body competency, depression, anxiety, and autistic traits (Autism Spectrum Quotient, or AQ) (Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Skinner, Martin, &; Clubley, 2001 Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Skinner, R., Martin, J., &; Clubley, E. (2001). The autism spectrum quotient (AQ): Evidence from asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism, males and females, scientists, and mathematicians. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 31, 5–17.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Of primary interest was whether AQ scores, gender, and the interaction between AQ scores and gender could successfully predict participants' scores on body image, satisfaction, and competency scales. Autistic traits were only a significant predictor of scores on one measure of momentary body image and satisfaction (Body Image States Scale: Cash et al., 2002 Cash, T. F., Fleming, E. C., Alindogan, J., Steadman, L., &; Whitehead, A. (2002). Beyond body image as a trait: The development and validation of the body image states scale. Eating Disorders, 10, 103–113. https://doi.org/10.1080/10640260290081678[Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). However, our results did suggest the possibility of an interaction between gender and AQ scores in predicting reports of body image, satisfaction, and competency.     

Virtual Anatomy: From the Body in the Text to the Body on the Screen

This paper analyzes the transformations in anatomical representation introduced by the Visible Human Project, the first complete virtual anatomy object. By comparing the process of production of book based classical anatomy with that of the Visible Human Project, the paper identifies the medium specificity of anatomical knowledge, the extent to which its powers of demonstration and analysis are conditioned by the medium in which they take place. The paper argues that anatomy can be productively thought of as a kind of writing practice, in which material flesh is written into different media as traces. Because the production of such traces always involves the destruction of the body involved the paper also interrogates the biopolitical hierarchies involved in anatomical knowledge.     

When the Body Speaks:

No abstract available for this article.