Ancient and modern body transformation

August 11, 2005 5:48 AM

Anthro-Mytho-Socio-Filter: Help me connect body transformation examples such as Cuchulainn, Mazinga Z, and Michael Jackson...

Basically, I'm constructing an essay about how a rather ancient desire (to be someone or something else more beautiful, more powerful, etc.) is creeping increasingly closer to being technologically possible (a la Michael Jackson). I'm particular interested in cultural examples of figures that are heroes or heroines (not necessarily in an action sense, but figures that are praised by a culture) for being beyond human.

So, 1) Please give any examples you would like to offer of mythological beyond humans (this should exclude dragons, unicorns, fairies, etc., as they were not human in origin) such as Cuchulainn, who transformed into a monster via "warp spasms." I place Transformers, and other Japanese robot people in this category as well. Again, it helps if these personae are human in origin or essence. Any culture can apply.

And slightly more importantly -
2) Please suggest anthropological, psychological, sociological texts that can provide official "scholarly" insight into these phenomenon. I'm sure anthropologists study body desire and transformation. I'm looking for how extreme examples, particularly those enshrined in myth, provide an insight into a particular cultural context. For example, Cuchulainn reflects the desires of pre-Medieval Irish men to be invincible in battle, as the Celtic people were constantly engaged in skirmish warfare with each other. Japanese robots reflect a conflicted relationship with technology, both in its potential to provide plenty and in its potential to destroy whole cities. I'd rather not blindly search "Body Transformation" in academic archives, and AskMefi provides a terrific blend of academic and other sources.

Thanks!

posted by Slothrop to society & culture (11 comments total)

Just a reminder:

Are you sure that there's an ancient q-celtic word for "warp spasm"? I'm pretty sure that before the invention of comic books, Cuchulainn just kind of went beserk. Or changed into animals.
posted by Mayor Curley at 6:01 AM on August 11, 2005

Does the whole goth cult around Anne Rice's Vampire books fall into your train of thought? Seems like she's transformed the Vampire myth into something less monstrous, and more about a primal wish to cheat death for a few dozen decades.
posted by bendybendy at 6:37 AM on August 11, 2005

There are any number of tales of lycanthropes, eg Naguales in Nahuatl cultures.

There are also plenty of cultures where those who don masks for religious ceremonies are more than just guys in masks but rather actually become the character.

Don't forget about Halloween.
posted by Pollomacho at 6:54 AM on August 11, 2005

Mayor Curley, in the version of the Ulster Cycle I just read ("Over Nine Waves", I forget the author, but it was a translation of various "source" texts), Cuchulainn's body did change by growing larger, having blood spurts, eyes goggling, etc. I think as these legends existed in oral form for quite a long time, it might be difficult to have a really authoritative version of his transformations, although I am open to suggestions as to what counts as the authoritative Cuchulainn. Certainly the image I linked to is part of a pop culture tradition around Celtic warriors, Picts, etc.

The Wiki article I link to for warp spasm gives an Irish word, but I don't know the etymology of the word given ("riastradh").
posted by Slothrop at 7:06 AM on August 11, 2005

While, in modern/popular terms: the "rage" thing is The Hulk. The modification idea is more like maybe Darth Vader, or Batman (Batman Begins emphasizes "becoming more than a man"). Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birth-Mark" has this sort of plastic-surgery-gone-awry thing that ties into Michael Jackson, sorta. Certain vampires do fit this, as well as liches.
posted by dagnyscott at 7:36 AM on August 11, 2005

First stop should be Ovid. He wrote the book on transformations. Don't forget Kafka, either.

My favorite Scottish example of a transformation myth is Tam Lin, a human knight who gets transformed into any number of things whilst trying to escape the Faerie Queen.

I believe you'll find a number of metamorphosis myths if you go back to the Sumerians.

Don't forget about North American myths either. I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but trickster stories tend to involve transformations.

I think Pollomacho opened up a rich line of research for you by bringing in masks.

Since you're focusing on Cuchulainn, it might make sense to go back and explore stories of heros overwhelmed by rage, even without a physical transformation. For example, Robert Graves loved to connect Cuchulainn's rage to Hercules'.

A quick Googling turned up an abstract of a paper about "Ritual Transformation through Michael Jackson's [Dangerous] Music Video."

Calvin and Hobbes' transmogrifier is a nice modern example.

Better keywords to use on searches than "body transformation": metamorphosis, ritual transformation, shapeshift.
posted by jbrjake at 8:23 AM on August 11, 2005

what up, slothrop! Ok, sluggo suggested I connect your desire-to-transform-body-into-something-divine thesis to vodou mythology somehow... I'm not sure if this is what you need but here's a beginning: at vodou ceremonies, practitioners are selected by one or more lwa (gods) to be his horse, or earthly vessel. (Some would say the practitioners select themselves, but on a sub- or un-conscious level.) During this time, the human's body is not seen as being made better or more divine, really; it's really just a skin for the god to manifest. It is an honor to be a horse, certainly you are no more or less human than before the god took you on. The experience may lead to you devoting yourself exclusively to this god, because he has chosen you and you shouldn't treat this lightly; but then again, all the gods must manifest at some point, and there's a limited number of people within the group, so most will at some point be "mounted" my several gods. A key difference (it seems to me) between the 'warp spasms' and possessions is that vodou practioners claim no memory of their possession, what they said or did during. There's one story of a man who, as Papa Gede, ate most of the bread brought to be eaten later by the congregation. Papa Gede was insatiable and demanded more; but later, when the man was himself again, he asked where all the food was, because he was getting hungry for dinner. (This physical/mental disconnect maybe seems less of a conscious body desire than one you might be looking for.) Anyway, I'll think more on the subject.

About the Cuchulainn thing: I've only read Thomas Cahill's thoughts on the subject (How the Irish Saved Civilization). Have you read it? It's been awhile for me, but I remember Cahill talking about the warp spasms in the Cuchulainn story less as a god-like man's experience than as a reflection of the human Celts direct experience in battle--a kind of adrenaline rush/unfettered, society-encouraged bloodlust, I guess, an altered state that won the battle and made you a better man. I might remember it wrong, but it was more a state that every warrior could attain if he was worthy in battle and gave his heart... But, hey, my memory is pretty sketchy these days :-)

Let me know if you need to borrow any books, and please show us the end result of your ideas!
posted by ibeji at 9:01 AM on August 11, 2005

Look at the work of Armando Favazza, especially "Bodies Under Siege: Self Mutilation and Body Modification in Culture and Psychiatry."

See also the (less scholarly, but more fun) Re/Search volume "Modern Primitives."
posted by googly at 9:31 AM on August 11, 2005

The work of anthropologist Donna Haraway, and the philosophy of transhumanism, may be worth looking at.
posted by box at 9:53 AM on August 11, 2005

Slothrop:

Speaking as an anthro TA, I have these comments for you.

You need to define your research question and hypothesis (you may have already, but it's not totally clear in your statement). To me it sounds like you are asking: Why do humans want to change their form? with a hypothesis-answer: because they have an intrinsic desire to achieve a sacred physical form. With this in mind, you want to show that technology is both widening the possible forms that people pursue and allowing more people to pursue these forms.

I use "sacred" because if you are going to suggest "intrinsic," you need to show cross-cultural, and sacred is a better all-purpose, cross-cultural category for what you want (and will help you with your searches).

The good news is that there are *lots* of anthro sources that discuss the relationship between body modification and the sacred. What you want to do is take a step back from "mythical creatures" and look at how/why people have historically modified their bodies. There is a huge amount of theory to go with these examples that deals with the divisions between the sacred/common/profane, which seems to be what you are getting at. You'll find examples of mythic creatures, but also other types of belief that may in fact strengthen whatever argument you are trying to make.

For searches, I would use terms like "body modification," "ritual" and "sacred." You could also try "body modification" and "origin myth," or terms for specific body modification (tattooing, piercing, scaring, circumcision, excision, subcision, infibulation, genital cutting/mutilation/surgeries)

A really, really good place to start is the Annual Reviews of Anthropology (this goes for other disciplines you want to include as well, they all have annual reviews). The body has been a hot topic lately, and in either the most recent or second-most recent there were several articles that may be of use to you. Annual Reviews are great: they're like the scholarly version of Coles Notes. They tell you the important works on a particular subject and briefly summarize them for you.

Here are some possibly useful references:

Ahmadu, Fuambai
2000 Rites and Wrongs: An Insider/Outsider Reflects on Power and Excision. In Female “Circumcision” in Africa: Culture, Controversy, and Change. Bettina Shell-Duncan and Ylva Hernlund, eds. Pp. 283-312. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc.
(she talks about the origin myth a bit... may be a little useful)

Lock, Margaret
1993 Cultivating the Body: Anthropology and Epistemologies of Bodily Practice and Knowledge. Annual Review of Anthropology 22:133-155.
(a good starting place for general theories of the body, but possibly too broad)

Schildkrout, Enid
2004 Inscribing the Body. Annual Review of Anthropology 33:319-344.
(really good, you should definitely read this. Also, this is the issue I was thinking of that you might find useful)

A final note: even if you aren't particularly interested in the types of body modification that people have done historically, given that the literature is so well-developed you will need to explain the relationship between your topic and its major themes.
posted by carmen at 12:23 PM on August 11, 2005

Carmen - thanks for the resources to look up. I checked out the Anthropology articles on JSTOR - those look terrific! Lots of good leads to follow. Thanks much!

Pollomacho, jrbjake, googly, box - thanks also for the suggestions! I'll look for those books/authors at the UM library.

ibeji - we'll talk... :)
posted by Slothrop at 7:15 PM on August 11, 2005