The Body

Abstract

Body studies in Latin America emerged in the last decade of the 20th century and encompassed disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives in the social sciences and humanities. Latin American research has drawn on various academic trends. Poststructuralist and phenomenological currents and analysis of discourse and representations stand out. Much research involves essential elements of postcolonial and decolonial theories. The field has been especially interested in the possibilities of criticizing power and politics in everyday experiences and between subordinate and marginal groups and subjects. The publication of Latin American authors in journals from the Global North is scarce. The Latin American academic tradition in body studies is mainly compiled in books that bring together articles by various authors. Distinctive approaches to anthropology and history are recognized, but many publications correspond to inter- and multidisciplinary interests. Critical studies derived from the reception of concepts on power, hegemony, difference, and inequalities point at problems concerning education, gender, race, violence, beauty, and sexuality. The orientations of archeology and the genealogy of power proposed by Michel Foucault to analyze the functioning and inflections in anatomical-political and biopolitical terms have been influential. In studies with a phenomenological orientation, psychosomatic problems related to therapeutics, self-modeling, social change, and practices for reconciliation or social transformation stand out. From these perspectives have emerged the emphasis on performance and aesthetic studies and approaches that integrate body and emotions. These approaches have been interested in recognizing and strengthening the human condition as integral as well as the corporeal nature of culture without ignoring the political nature of existence. From this perspective, the authors propose body interventions for social and educational change, therapies, and practices for reconciliation.

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