Montrer ou cacher le corps humain
Abstract
Conventions used to represent the body in the Pre-Hispanic period convey a particular way of conceiving of the human individual. In this article, using an approach based on what we know from ethnohistorical and ethnographic studies about the conception of the body at the time of the Spanish conquest, I attempt to examine the possible meanings of its representation. This study hinges on the observation of what is shown of the body or, conversely, on what is hidden, during two different periods in the highlands of central Mexico: the Preclassic and Classic periods. After examining the body as a whole, a few particularly significant body parts will be considered, as well as that which is hidden or conversely shown of the body by means of jewellery or skin decorations and treatments, or even what one wanted to show of the inside of the body. The aim of these successive approaches is to show that the conventions followed to represent or not represent different body parts and elements correspond to a coherent language, significant of the nature of the body and its perception, that sometimes still structures Mesoamerican thought to this day.
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