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Dermography. Ethics and Aesthetics of Skin Writing

Description du projet

Littérature et rôle sociétal de la peau

Notre peau livre de précieuses informations sur notre bien-être individuel et collectif, car elle a toujours servi de canevas aux phénomènes culturels et sociétaux. Les études sur la peau aboutissent essentiellement à l’analyse et à la compréhension du rôle culturel et sociétal de la peau. Le projet DEAS, financé par l’UE, appliquera des études littéraires comparatives pour placer différents récits et écritures de peau dans leur contexte. Le projet repose sur la considération que les échantillons de peau et la recherche sur la peau artificielle n’ont jamais été combinés dans un contexte littéraire. DEAS combine l’histoire culturelle, médicale et intellectuelle avec des archives d’échantillons de peau réels, l’éthique et la psychanalyse, reliant les résultats à la biophysique contemporaine, aux sciences de la vie et aux industries de la santé et de la beauté.

Objectif

We are only just now beginning to understand the importance of human skin for our individual and collective well-being. According to biophysicist Georges Limbert (2019), “skin tells a story about our health status, age, past traumas, emotions, ethnicity and our social and physical environment”. As the oldest and most sensitive of our organs, it provides us with powerful collective mental images of both intimacy and integrity. Just as in the Freudian ‘Wunderblock’ (mystic writing pad), it remembers and records our personal biographies and traumas. Skin, in other words, is closely related to writing. Within literature skin has always been a special canvas that allows the study of cultural and societal phenomena. Accordingly, literature plays a crucial role whenever we try to analyze and understand the cultural and societal role of skin. Rooted in comparative literary studies, “Dermography. Ethics and Aesthetics of Skin Writing” [DEAS] integrates cultural, medical and intellectual history with archives of actual skin samples, ethics and psychoanalysis and relates its findings to contemporary biophysics and the life sciences, including the health and beauty industries. As a literary project, DEAS will put various skin narratives and skin writing (dermography) into context while at the same time taking into account skin’s materiality in a concrete sense: Working with actual skin samples and artificial skin research has never been done before in a literary context. Exploring the unique collection of the Medical Museion in Copenhagen, one of the largest of its kind, and integrating it in research that goes far beyond its archival significance, is a pioneering approach that challenges both traditional literary scholarship and curatorial methods. By focusing on the affinity of skin and writing, DEAS will offer the first substantial literary contribution to the new research field of Skin Studies.

Coordinateur

KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET
Contribution nette de l'UE
€ 219 312,00
Adresse
NORREGADE 10
1165 Kobenhavn
Danemark

Voir sur la carte

Région
Danmark Hovedstaden Byen København
Type d’activité
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Liens
Coût total
€ 219 312,00