Georges Vigarello's Books

A History of Fatigue

From the Middle Ages to the Present

By: Georges Vigarello

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A History of Fatigue

From the Middle Ages to the Present

By: Georges Vigarello

“Stress,” “burn out,” “mental overload”: the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have witnessed an unrelenting expansion of the meaning of fatigue. The tentacles of exhaustion insinuated themselves into every aspect of our lives, from the workplace to the home, from our relationships with friends and family to the most intimate aspects of our lives. All around us are the signs of a “burn-out society,” a society in which fatigue has become the norm. How did this happen? This pioneering book explores the rich and little-known history of fatigue from the Middle Ages to the present. Vigarello shows that our understanding of fatigue, the words used to describe it, and the symptoms and explanations of it have varied greatly over time, reflecting changing social mores and broader aspects of social and political life. He argues that the increased autonomy of people in Western societies (whether genuine or assumed), the positing of a more individualized self, and the ever expanding ideal of independence and freedom have constantly made it more difficult for us to withstand anything that constrains or limits us. This painful contradiction causes weariness as well as dissatisfaction. Fatigue spreads and becomes stronger, imperceptibly permeating everything, seeping into ordinary moments and unexpected places. Ranging from the history of war, religion and work to the history of the body, the senses and intimacy, this history of fatigue shows how something that seems permanently centered in our bodies has, over the course of centuries, also been ingrained in our minds, in the end affecting the innermost aspects of the self.

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Page Count

374

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons

Published Date

ISBN 10

1509549269

ISBN 13

9781509549269

The Metamorphoses of Fat

A History of Obesity

By: Georges Vigarello

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The Metamorphoses of Fat

A History of Obesity

By: Georges Vigarello

Georges Vigarello maps the evolution of Western ideas about fat and fat people from the Middle Ages to the present, paying particular attention to the role of science, fashion, fitness crazes, and public health campaigns in shaping these views. While hefty bodies were once a sign of power, today those who struggle to lose weight are considered poor in character and weak in mind. Vigarello traces the eventual equation of fatness with infirmity and the way we have come to define ourselves and others in terms of body type. Vigarello begins with the medieval artists and intellectuals who treated heavy bodies as symbols of force and prosperity. He then follows the shift during the Renaissance and early modern period to courtly, medical, and religious codes that increasingly favored moderation and discouraged excess. Scientific advances in the eighteenth century also brought greater knowledge of food and the body's processes, recasting fatness as the "relaxed" antithesis of health. The body-as-mechanism metaphor intensified in the early nineteenth century, with the chemistry revolution and heightened attention to food-as-fuel, which turned the body into a kind of furnace or engine. During this period, social attitudes toward fat became conflicted, with the bourgeois male belly operating as a sign of prestige but also as a symbol of greed and exploitation, while the overweight female was admired only if she was working class. Vigarello concludes with the fitness and body-conscious movements of the twentieth century and the proliferation of personal confessions about obesity, which tied fat more closely to notions of personality, politics, taste, and class.

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Page Count

297

Publisher

Columbia University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0231535309

ISBN 13

9780231535304

The Silhouette

From the 18th Century to the Present Day

By: Georges Vigarello

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The Silhouette

From the 18th Century to the Present Day

By: Georges Vigarello

From bone-crushing corsets to modern 'slimming' creams, our preoccupation with the silhouette has shaped centuries of fashion and culture. The contours of the body can convey everything from physical health and beauty to social class – and both men and women have long sought to mold and reshape them, often with alarming and even dangerous results. Tracing the history of the silhouette from its birth in 18th century portrait sketches, this engrossing book takes the reader on a journey through 250 years of a cultural obsession. From Hogarth's 'line of beauty' to the advent of nude photography, from the crinoline to the Dior suit and the early bathing costume, The Silhouette reveals how the shape of the body has become an eloquent symbol of status, sexuality and the aspirational quest for physical and moral 'perfection'. Drawing on numerous textual and visual resources, leading scholar Georges Vigarello anatomizes a fixation with the human form which has shaped not just our bodies but our very identities. With over 120 color images, The Silhouette is a remarkable resource for scholars, students and fashion-lovers alike.

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Page Count

185

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1474244653

ISBN 13

9781474244657

A History of Private Life: Riddles of identity in modern times

By: Philippe Ariès,Georges Duby

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A History of Private Life: Riddles of identity in modern times

By: Philippe Ariès,Georges Duby

Library has Vol. 1-5.

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Page Count

662

Publisher

Harvard University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

067439979X

ISBN 13

9780674399792

A History of Rape

Sexual Violence in France from the 16th to the 20th Century

By: Georges Vigarello

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A History of Rape

Sexual Violence in France from the 16th to the 20th Century

By: Georges Vigarello

This important new book, by one of the leading social historians in France today, analyses the changing meaning of rape through numerous case studies across the centuries. The book begins with a history of the relative tolerance of sexual violence in early modern France, and the tendency to condemn the victims by enveloping them in the shame of the act. It then traces the changing legal attitudes to sexual violence at the end of the eighteenth century, and the slow recognition of the role of moral violence in rape in the nineteenth century. Vigarello also stresses the importance of the new medical jurisprudence and the introduction of forensic psychiatry into the courtroom. But despite the increased number of convictions in the nineteenth century, it was only after the campaigns conducted by feminists in the twentieth century that the true gravity of rape as a crime against women's integrity was fully recognized. As a result, acts of sexual violence are no longer assessed in terms of the risk of debauchery, but in terms of the risk of 'psychic murder' and inner damage. A History of Rape is a valuable resource for students and scholars of social history, and anyone interested in changing attitudes to sexuality and sexual violence

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Page Count

320

Publisher

Polity

Published Date

ISBN 10

0745621708

ISBN 13

9780745621708

The Metamorphoses of Fat

A History of Obesity

By: Georges Vigarello

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The Metamorphoses of Fat

A History of Obesity

By: Georges Vigarello

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Page Count

297

Publisher

Columbia University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0231535309

ISBN 13

9780231535304

La toilette

Naissance de l'intime

By: Nadeije Laneyrie-Dagen,Georges Vigarello

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La toilette

Naissance de l'intime

By: Nadeije Laneyrie-Dagen,Georges Vigarello

Le musée Marmottan Monet présente du 12 février au 5 juillet 2015 une exposition intitulée : La Toilette : Naissance de l'intime, réunissant des oeuvres d'artistes majeurs du XVe siècle à nos jours, concernant les rites autour de la propreté, leurs espaces et leurs gestuelles. L'historienne d'art Nadeije Laneyrie-Dagen et l'historien de la culture Georges Vigarello assurent le commissariat de cette exposition et signent le catalogue de l'exposition. Des musées prestigieux, des collections internationales se sont associés avec enthousiasme à cette entreprise et ont consenti des prêts majeurs, parmi lesquels des suites de peintures qui n'avaient jamais été montrées depuis leur création et sont présentées dans l'ouvrage. Une centaine de tableaux, des sculptures, quelques pièces exceptionnelles de mobilier, des estampes, des photographies permettent de proposer un ouvrage d'exception. Des gravures de Dürer, du Primatice, des peintures de l'école de Fontainebleau, parmi lesquels un Clouet, l'exceptionnelle Femme à la puce de Georges de La Tour, un ensemble unique et étonnant de François Boucher, montrent l'invention de gestes et de lieux spécifiques de toilette dans l'Europe d'Ancien Régime. Avec le XIXe siècle s'affirme un renouvellement en profondeur des outils et des modes de la propreté. L'apparition du cabinet de toilette, celle d'un usage plus diversifié et abondant de l'eau inspirent à Manet, à Berthe Morisot, à Degas, à Toulouse Lautrec et à d'autres artistes encore - non des moindres - des scènes inédites de femmes se débarbouillant dans un tub ou une cuve de fortune. Les gestuelles sont bouleversées, l'espace est définitivement clos et réservé à une totale intimité ; une forme d'entretien entre soi et soi se lit dans ces oeuvres, d'où se dégage une profonde impression d'intimité et de modernité. L'ouvrage présente ensuite au lecteur l'image à la fois familière et déconcertante de salles de bains modernes et "fonctionnelles" qui sont aussi, avec Pierre Bonnard, des espaces où il est permis, à l'écart du regard des autres et du bruit de la ville, de s'abandonner et de rêver. C'est la première fois qu'un tel sujet, unique et incontournable, est ainsi abordé. Dans ces oeuvres qui reflètent des pratiques quotidiennes qu'on pourrait croire banales, on pourra découvrira des plaisirs et des surprises d'une profondeur peu attendue.

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Page Count

223

Published Date

ISBN 10

2754108149

ISBN 13

9782754108140

Book's by Georges Vigarello

A History of Fatigue

A History of Fatigue

The Metamorphoses of Fat

The Metamorphoses of Fat

The Silhouette

The Silhouette

A History of Private Life: Riddles of identity in modern times

A History of Private Life: Riddles of identity in modern times

A History of Rape

A History of Rape

The Metamorphoses of Fat

The Metamorphoses of Fat

La toilette

La toilette

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