Studies of early modern representations of the European encounter with the New World have noted t... more Studies of early modern representations of the European encounter with the New World have noted the ways in which they construct its inhabitants as barbarous others who butcher and consume the flesh of their enemies. But how might these representations of dismemberment fragment the bodies, not of Europeans, but of native New World inhabitants? Drawing upon the discourses of anatomy and cartography, this paper examines the discursive use of corporeal fragmentation in sixteenth-century representations of “savage” bodies. Focussing on cannibalistic scenes and dismembered body parts as they are represented on maps and in voyage illustrations, it identifies visual strategies through which Europeans fragmented, mapped, and presented the bodies of indigenous “others” for consumption, as well as to facilitate conquest. In doing so, it also considers the ways in which this systematic, ideological “dissection” of New World bodies would have been unimaginable without the early modern “culture of dissection” and its discourse of discovery.
This thesis examines representations of cancer in contemporary art, with a particular focus on un... more This thesis examines representations of cancer in contemporary art, with a particular focus on unruly, un-idealized bodies at risk. In bringing together the discourses of art history and medicine, its aim is to engage conventions of visualizing cancer, and more importantly, to highlight the ways in which contemporary artists challenge dominant representations, re-imagining the cancerous body from an embodied perspective. Chapter One provides a context for images of cancer by examining an artistic account of how medicine constructs the body against an artist’s representation of her own cancerous body. Theorizing cancer as an abject condition, Chapter Two examines representational strategies for visualizing cancer that trouble distinctions between inside/outside, self/other, subject/object, healthy/diseased. Building on themes of gender, health, and identity, Chapter Three considers representations of chemotherapy-induced hair loss and baldness as the most visible signs of cancer, but highly unstable and performative ones that call the representational status of the disease into question.
Studies of early modern representations of the European encounter with the New World have noted t... more Studies of early modern representations of the European encounter with the New World have noted the ways in which they construct its inhabitants as barbarous others who butcher and consume the flesh of their enemies. But how might these representations of dismemberment fragment the bodies, not of Europeans, but of native New World inhabitants? Drawing upon the discourses of anatomy and cartography, this paper examines the discursive use of corporeal fragmentation in sixteenth-century representations of “savage” bodies. Focussing on cannibalistic scenes and dismembered body parts as they are represented on maps and in voyage illustrations, it identifies visual strategies through which Europeans fragmented, mapped, and presented the bodies of indigenous “others” for consumption, as well as to facilitate conquest. In doing so, it also considers the ways in which this systematic, ideological “dissection” of New World bodies would have been unimaginable without the early modern “culture of dissection” and its discourse of discovery.
This thesis examines representations of cancer in contemporary art, with a particular focus on un... more This thesis examines representations of cancer in contemporary art, with a particular focus on unruly, un-idealized bodies at risk. In bringing together the discourses of art history and medicine, its aim is to engage conventions of visualizing cancer, and more importantly, to highlight the ways in which contemporary artists challenge dominant representations, re-imagining the cancerous body from an embodied perspective. Chapter One provides a context for images of cancer by examining an artistic account of how medicine constructs the body against an artist’s representation of her own cancerous body. Theorizing cancer as an abject condition, Chapter Two examines representational strategies for visualizing cancer that trouble distinctions between inside/outside, self/other, subject/object, healthy/diseased. Building on themes of gender, health, and identity, Chapter Three considers representations of chemotherapy-induced hair loss and baldness as the most visible signs of cancer, but highly unstable and performative ones that call the representational status of the disease into question.
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Papers by Sara Kowalski
Master's Thesis by Sara Kowalski