Controversial bodies : thoughts on the public display of plastinated corpses / edited by John D. Lantos.

Date:
[2011]
  • Books

About this work

Description

Controversial, fascinating, disturbing, and often beautiful, plastinated human bodies -- such as those found at Body Worlds exhibitions throughout the world -- have gripped the public's imagination. These displays have been lauded as educational, sparked protests, and drawn millions of visitors. This book looks at the powerful sway these corpses hold over their living audiences everywhere. Plastination was invented in the 1970s by German anatomist Gunther von Hagens. The process transforms living tissues into moldable plastic that can then be hardened into a permanent shape. Von Hagens first exhibited his expertly dissected, artfully posed plastinated bodies in Japan in 1995. Since then, his shows have continuously attracted so many paying customers that they have inspired imitators, brought accusations of unethical or even illegal behavior, and ignited vigorous debates among scientists, educators, religious leaders, and law enforcement officials. These lively, thought-provoking, and sometimes personal essays reflect on such public displays from ethical, legal, cultural, religious, pedagogical, and aesthetic perspectives. They examine what lies behind the exhibitions' popularity and explore the ramifications of turning corpses into a spectacle of amusement. Contributions from bioethicists, historians, physicians, anatomists, theologians, and novelists dig deeply into issues that compel, upset, and unsettle us all.

Publication/Creation

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, [2011]

Physical description

x, 145 pages ; 23 cm

Bibliographic information

Includes bibliographical references (pages 129-139) and index.

Contents

Vive la difference : Gunther von Hagens and his maligned copycats / Linda Shulte-Sasse -- Life-like humans : playing poker with James Bond and Ted Williams / George J. Annas -- What would Dr. William Hunter (1718-83) think about bodies revealed? / Lynda Payne -- For Ronnie and Donnie / Myra Christopher -- Resisting the allure of the lifelike dead / Christine Montross -- Normative objections to posing plastinated bodies : an ethics of bodily repose / Tarris Rosell -- More wondrous and more worthy to behold : the future of public anatomy / Geoffrey Rees -- Public anatomy : history and potential / Callum F. Ross -- Detachment has consequences : a note of caution from medical students' experiences of cadaver dissection / Farr A. Curlin -- Craft and narrative in body worlds : an aesthetic consideration / Neil Ward -- Being non-biodegradable : the lonely fate of metameat / Catherine belling -- The creeping illusionizing of identity from neurobiology to newgenics / Barbara Maria S Stafford.

Languages

Where to find it

  • LocationStatus
    History of Medicine
    DA.AN
    Open shelves

Permanent link

Identifiers

ISBN

  • 9781421402710
  • 1421402718