Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition); as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits; maps; sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images; so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts; we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.
2014-08-13 2014-08-13File Name: B00MPIWFXU
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. To Find Freedom in the GesturalBy StreetlightReaderOf the many works that have promised to bring the body back into the fold of philosophical practice; Carrie Nolandrsquo;s Agency and Embodiment is; without a doubt; among the best of them. Pitching itself against the prevailing post-structuralist distrust of lsquo;self-experiencersquo;; Noland argues for a much needed reconsideration of the place of kinaesthetic experience - the feeling of a body-in-motion; lsquo;animate formrsquo; - in our approaches to theorising agency. After all; Noland contends; itrsquo;s the experience of bodily lsquo;interoceptionrsquo; (not; mind you; mental lsquo;introspectionrsquo;); that affords us our first brush with agency; the first realisation of a capacity engendered from within to resist the imperatives imposed from without. And of course; Irsquo;m simplifying here: among the merits of Agency and Embodiment is a keen awareness of the degree to which our very physiology is saturated through and through with the ordinances of the social which shape us not simply at the level of culture; but right down to our gait; our gestures; our movements; and even - or rather consequently - our feelings.Indeed; itrsquo;s just out of this paradox - wherein our most intimately felt experiences afford us a glimpse into the possibility of being otherwise - that Noland proposes to ground a theory of agency. By treating kinaesthesia as nothing less than a sixth sense - a finding affirmed by both neuroscience and anthropology - Noland proposes that attention to our respective proprioceptive backgrounds can allow us to contest and even refigure the very sensory-motor practices out of which we are composed. Central to Nolands account - one drawing on the resources of Marcel Mauss; Maurice Merleau-Ponty; Andre Leroi-Gourhan; and Henri Michaux - is the role of gesture: residing at the intersection of movement and meaning; gesture crystalizes the manner in which meaning operates at the level of the body; crossing the threshold of both nature and culture while at the same time singularizing ones body as precisely ones own.As Noland writes; "gestures... have a definite direction; a specific velocity; rhythm; scope; tonicity" - in short; a quality of sensation whose contours are intimately felt; and consequently; available to modification. Ultimately; its this attention to the qualitative nature of movement and sensation which allows Noland to traverse the vast expanse of trans-disciplinary scholarship that she does: from art to philosophy; performance studies to sociology; science and anthropology; Agency and Embodiment leaves few stones unturned in its quest to bring meaning back to the body; and in turn; free it from the muted half-life of meaningless corporeity so often attributed to it. If the question of freedom always seemed a little too abstract; a little too spectral; its among these pages that its fleshy possibility is given body in spectacular fashion.6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Superb. But paperback please!By Marco Polo MintAs a researcher interested in kinesthesia and embodiment; this books is a strong attempt at connecting disparate research in philosophy; psychology and neruophysiology with performance. I had to borrow this from the library and havent finished it yet - thought Id order it to read through in its entirety; but there is no paperback as yet. Im intrigued by her approach - she is able to synthesize a large body of scholarship but with a confidence and certainty that benefits her thesis. Her analysis of some artistic works (Bill Viola for example) genuinely adds to the concepts being discussed. Its written with confidence but also with a measured style; not at all flaky or insubstantial (unlike the work of; say; Erin Manning). Recommended.
