The Body, Dance and Cultural Theory / Edition 1

by Helen Thomas

Overview

This book takes its point of departure from the overwhelming interest in theories of the body and performativity in sociology and cultural studies in recent years. It explores a variety of ways of looking at dance as a social and artistic (bodily) practice as a means of generating insights into the politics of identity and difference as they are situated and traced through representations of the body and bodily practices. These issues are addressed through a series of case studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780333724323
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	09/01/2003
Edition description:	2003
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

HELEN THOMAS is Reader in Sociology at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She has published numerous articles on dance and presented papers on her work in Europe, North America and Japan. She is editor of Dance, Gender and Culture and Dance in the City, and is author of Dance, Modernity and Culture. She recently completed an AHRB funded study, Dancing into the Third Age: Social Dance as Cultural Text.
HELEN THOMAS is Reader in Sociology at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She has published numerous articles on dance and presented papers on her work in Europe, North America and Japan. She is editor of Dance, Gender and Culture and Dance in the City, and is author of Dance, Modernity and Culture. She recently completed an AHRB funded study, Dancing into the Third Age: Social Dance as Cultural Text.

Table of Contents

Introduction
PART 1: CULTURAL BODIES
The Body in Culture: Before the Body Project
The Body in Culture: The Body Project
Ethnography Dances Back
PART 2: DANCE, THE BODY AND CULTURAL THEORY
The Body in Dance
Reconstructing the Dance: In Search of Authenticity?
Dance and Difference: Performing/Representing/Re-Writing the Body
Dancing the Night Away: Rave/Club Culture
Conclusion
References
Index.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Comprehensive and illuminating...Students of contemporary culture will find her interdisciplinary treatment of dance in all its forms an essential text.' - Professor Bryan Turner, Cambridge University, UK