Not Quite Changing Places: Iconic Remediations of the “Human Anatomy” Topos at the Turn of the Millennium
Not Quite Changing Places: Iconic Remediations of the “Human Anatomy” Topos at the Turn of the Millennium

Summary/Abstract: The final decades of the 20th century witnessed the advent of theories and practices committed to radical revisionism of received epistemic paradigms. Whilst the impact of gender, race, postcolonial and subaltern studies has been felt beyond the academe in everyday interactions, the backlash has not been tardy, either. I investigate gender identity representations in two anatomical projects, the US National Library of Medicine’s Visible Human Project and Gunther von Hagens’s exhibition of plastinate cadavers, Body Worlds, both of which ostensibly reclaim women’s place in society and anatomical representation, and whose worldwide dissemination and/or popularity provides for the globalisation of western anatomical icons. The VHP prides itself in furnishing datasets for the scientific study of the human body as both male and female. Gunther von Hagens claims that his touring exhibition encourages the “democratization of anatomy” through its opening to the lay public. For all their merits, however, the projects can also be faulted for their biased identitary representations. Whilst examining the literature on the VHP and responses to Body Worlds, my comparative analysis aims to uncover and analyse genderrelated conflicts and identity displacements at work within both, which testify to the enduring patriarchal view of women’s place in society and discourse alike.

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