What is the fascination that decollation holds for us, as individuals and as a culture? Why does the idea make us laugh and the act make us close our eyes? Losing Our Heads explores in both artistic and cultural contexts the role of the chopped-off head. It asks why the practice of decapitation was once so widespread, why it has diminished-but not, as scenes from contemporary Iraq show, completely disappeared-and why we find it so peculiarly repulsive that we use it as a principal marker to separate ourselves from a more ...
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What is the fascination that decollation holds for us, as individuals and as a culture? Why does the idea make us laugh and the act make us close our eyes? Losing Our Heads explores in both artistic and cultural contexts the role of the chopped-off head. It asks why the practice of decapitation was once so widespread, why it has diminished-but not, as scenes from contemporary Iraq show, completely disappeared-and why we find it so peculiarly repulsive that we use it as a principal marker to separate ourselves from a more "barbaric"or "primitive" past? Although the topic is grim, Regina Janes's treatment and conclusions are neither grisly nor gruesome, but continuously instructive about the ironies of humanity's cultural nature. Bringing to bear an array of evidence, the book argues that the human ability to create meaning from the body motivates the practice of decapitation, its diminution, the impossibility of its extirpation, and its continuing fascination. Ranging from antiquity to the late nineteenth-century passion for Salom� and John the Baptist, and from the enlightenment to postcolonial Africa's challenge to the severed head as sign of barbarism, Losing Our Heads opens new areas of investigation, enabling readers to understand the shock of decapitation and to see the value in moving past shock to analysis. Written with penetrating wit and featuring striking illustrations, it is sure to captivate anyone interested in his or her head.
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Milton Under Wychwood,
OXFORDSHIRE,
UNITED KINGDOM
$21.60
$30.00
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Add this copy of Losing Our Heads-Beheadings in Literature and Culture to cart. $26.55, new condition, Sold by Books2anywhere rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fairford, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2005 by MI-New York University.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
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New. What is the fascination that decollation holds for us, as individuals and as a culture? Why does the idea make us laugh and the act make us close our eyes? "Losing Our Heads" explores in both artistic and cultural contexts the role of the chopped-off head. Num Pages: 255 pages, black and white illustrations. BIC Classification: DSB; JFC. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational; (U) Tertiary Education (US: College). Dimension: 227 x 150 x 15. Weight in Grams: 368. 2005. Paperback.....We ship daily from our Bookshop.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Add this copy of Losing Our Heads: Beheadings in Literature and Culture to cart. $11.00, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Emerald rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by NYU Press.
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Add this copy of Losing Our Heads: Beheadings in Literature and Culture to cart. $12.98, very good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by New York University Press.
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Very Good. Very Good condition. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp.
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