Chapter Defining Britishness/otherness on the example of freak shows in the 19th century

The article focuses on the social contruction of Britishness and otherness on the example of British cultural practices known as freak shows – exhibitions of abnormal corporeality. They were popular entertainment of the late 1800s and early 1900s, especially in British but also in American culture....

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Հիմնական հեղինակ: Sosnowska, Monika
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Հրապարակվել է: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego 2025
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Առցանց հասանելիություն:ONIX_20250307_9788381422963_307
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author Sosnowska, Monika
author_browse Sosnowska, Monika
author_facet Sosnowska, Monika
author_sort Sosnowska, Monika
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description The article focuses on the social contruction of Britishness and otherness on the example of British cultural practices known as freak shows – exhibitions of abnormal corporeality. They were popular entertainment of the late 1800s and early 1900s, especially in British but also in American culture. Somatic anomality became not only a social stigma meaning monstroity and oddity but it was also a defining category of non-Britishness and non-humanness. The author accentuates the significance of the sense of vision in fabricating and naming physical Otherness as negativity and deformity. The article demonstrates that the exhibition of extraordinary bodies within their particular historical, cultural and political context served a purpose to normalize sameness and establish identity of British middle and upper class of the discussed period. British colonizers represented the colonized in general as Others, yet another „othering” aspect of the Other was an exposition of their somatic freakishness, something that aroused fear and fascination. Bizarre bodies of the Others became additional territory to be subjugated and marked by means of exclusion and degradation.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1548822025-03-07T13:41:49Z Chapter Defining Britishness/otherness on the example of freak shows in the 19th century Sosnowska, Monika British Empire British colonies postcolonialism colonialism Great Britain United Kingdom The article focuses on the social contruction of Britishness and otherness on the example of British cultural practices known as freak shows – exhibitions of abnormal corporeality. They were popular entertainment of the late 1800s and early 1900s, especially in British but also in American culture. Somatic anomality became not only a social stigma meaning monstroity and oddity but it was also a defining category of non-Britishness and non-humanness. The author accentuates the significance of the sense of vision in fabricating and naming physical Otherness as negativity and deformity. The article demonstrates that the exhibition of extraordinary bodies within their particular historical, cultural and political context served a purpose to normalize sameness and establish identity of British middle and upper class of the discussed period. British colonizers represented the colonized in general as Others, yet another „othering” aspect of the Other was an exposition of their somatic freakishness, something that aroused fear and fascination. Bizarre bodies of the Others became additional territory to be subjugated and marked by means of exclusion and degradation. 2025-03-07T13:41:48Z 2025-03-07T13:41:48Z 2019 chapter ONIX_20250307_9788381422963_307 9788381422963 9788381422956 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/154882 pol image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://www.press.uni.lodz.pl/index.php/wul/catalog/book/961 Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego 10.18778/8142-295-6.08 The article focuses on the social contruction of Britishness and otherness on the example of British cultural practices known as freak shows – exhibitions of abnormal corporeality. They were popular entertainment of the late 1800s and early 1900s, especially in British but also in American culture. Somatic anomality became not only a social stigma meaning monstroity and oddity but it was also a defining category of non-Britishness and non-humanness. The author accentuates the significance of the sense of vision in fabricating and naming physical Otherness as negativity and deformity. The article demonstrates that the exhibition of extraordinary bodies within their particular historical, cultural and political context served a purpose to normalize sameness and establish identity of British middle and upper class of the discussed period. British colonizers represented the colonized in general as Others, yet another „othering” aspect of the Other was an exposition of their somatic freakishness, something that aroused fear and fascination. Bizarre bodies of the Others became additional territory to be subjugated and marked by means of exclusion and degradation. 10.18778/8142-295-6.08 83bfe9c9-323d-4283-b087-d859fd9af314 9788381422963 9788381422956 111-123 open access
spellingShingle British Empire
British colonies
postcolonialism
colonialism
Great Britain
United Kingdom
Sosnowska, Monika
Chapter Defining Britishness/otherness on the example of freak shows in the 19th century
title Chapter Defining Britishness/otherness on the example of freak shows in the 19th century
title_full Chapter Defining Britishness/otherness on the example of freak shows in the 19th century
title_fullStr Chapter Defining Britishness/otherness on the example of freak shows in the 19th century
title_full_unstemmed Chapter Defining Britishness/otherness on the example of freak shows in the 19th century
title_short Chapter Defining Britishness/otherness on the example of freak shows in the 19th century
title_sort chapter defining britishness otherness on the example of freak shows in the 19th century
topic British Empire
British colonies
postcolonialism
colonialism
Great Britain
United Kingdom
topic_facet British Empire
British colonies
postcolonialism
colonialism
Great Britain
United Kingdom
url ONIX_20250307_9788381422963_307
work_keys_str_mv AT sosnowskamonika chapterdefiningbritishnessothernessontheexampleoffreakshowsinthe19thcentury