Techniques of the Body PDF

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Techniques of the Body (Marcel Mauss) Theory – Techniques of the Body  Technique: An action which is effective and traditional  Techniques undergo a change in our generation’s lifetime  Things of the same type e.g. swimming/walking are specific to determinate societies  Generate witnessed a change in technique e.g. breaststroke replaced by different types of crawls  Each society has its own special habits - Habits don’t just vary with individuals but between societies  Prestigious Imitation: Imitation of actions which have succeeded and has been successfully performed by people who have authority over you Embodiment – Research centred on the living, moving and feeling social experiences of human beings. Techniques of the Body “Possible to produce a theory of the technique of the body in the singular on the basis of a study, an exposition, a description pure and simple of techniques of the body in the plural. By this expression I mean the ways in which from society to society men know how to use their bodies.” (Mauss, 1934, p.70) Techniques and Society 1. Technique is knowledge – acquired and not uneasy to learn 2. Technique is transmissible – travels across time and space 3. Technique is a compromise between “nature” and “humanity” 4. Can be embodied in sense that is may work with and through the materiality of bodies as distinct technologies (Spatz, 2016, p.32-33) Critical Perspectives  The relationship between knowledge and agency – if technique is knowledge, how can it become involuntary? (Mauss, p.30)  Where does the new technique come from? Mauss tells us that a new technique of swimming has been found, but he does not explain who found it or how.” (p.61) Reflexive Techniques of the Body Body techniques are taught, trained, learned and internalised by highly thoughtful and reflective individuals – used in unique ways – each person has the capacity to use these body techniques and shape them to suit their embodied selves....