Overview

Based on intensive study of human origin illustrations, responses from students and colleagues and research into reconstructive illustration and feminist criticism of Western art, this ground-breaking book traces the subtle ways in which paleoanthropological conventions have influenced and have shifted in the creation of these illustrations. Wiber reveals that embedded meanings in these illustrations go beyond gender to include two other ubiquitous themes - racial superiority and upward cultural progress. Underlying all these themes, she found a basic conservatism in the paleoanthropological approach to evolutionary theory. Erect Men/Undulating Women provides a deeper understanding of popularized illustrations of human origins, but, more importantly, it encourages readers to gain a sensitivity to the ways in which Western culture constructs """"scientific"""" findings that are compatible with its deeply held beliefs and values.

Full Product Details

Author:   Melanie G. Wiber
Publisher:   Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Imprint:   Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.388kg
ISBN:  

9780889203082

ISBN 10:   0889203083
Pages:   300
Publication Date:   30 November 1997
Audience:   College/higher education ,  General/trade ,  Undergraduate ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable  
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Table of Contents

"Erect Men/Undulating Women: The Visual Imagery of Gender, """"Race"""" and Progress in Reconstructive Illustrations of Human Evolution by Melanie G. Wiber List of Figures Acknowledgments ONE: Of Gender, """"Race,"""" Progress and Evolution: Human Evolution Reconstructive Illustration TWO: Contested Knowledge in the Human Evolution Story Field: Man the Hunter versus Woman the Gatherer THREE: Reconstructive Human Evolution Illustrations: Utilizing Western Art Conventions in a Contested Story Field FOUR: Gender: The Ubiquitous Story Operator FIVE: Conflation and the Significant Other: Racism and Codes of the Primitive SIX: Window or Mirror? Primates and Foragers: Analogies of the Pre-Cultural Life SEVEN: Progress: Inevitable as Moral Rewards- The Ultimate Story Operator 153 EIGHT: Lucy as Barbie Doll: Eroticism in the Human Evolution Meta-Narrative NINE: The Commodification of Human Evolution: Selling a Story Field through Illustrations TEN: Conclusions and Future Directions for Research Figures 241 References Cited 257 Index 279 Figures References Cited Index"

Reviews

In critiquing the whole framework in which palaeoanthropologists and scientific illustrators operate, Wiber gives us much to think about.''--Pamela R. Willoughby Wiber has produced an interesting account of how visual imagery in reconstructive illustrations of human evolution has itself evolved over the years.... Her distinction between the naked form and the nude form--the latter meant to affect the viewer through eroticism--is an excellent one.... Wiber's book is well written and includes 16 illustrations and a more than adequte index.''--M.J. O'Brien Choice, June 1998 ``In critiquing the whole framework in which palaeoanthropologists and scientific illustrators operate, Wiber gives us much to think about.''--Pamela R. Willoughby ``Wiber has produced an interesting account of how visual imagery in reconstructive illustrations of human evolution has itself evolved over the years.... Her distinction between the naked form and the nude form--the latter meant to affect the viewer through eroticism--is an excellent one.... Wiber's book is well written and includes 16 illustrations and a more than adequte index.''--M.J. O'Brien Choice, June 1998 ``Provides a valuable update concerning schools of thought on evolutionary theory and the effects of these theories on society's comprehension of how humans came to be.... Erect Men/Undulating Women is an engaging pice of valuable and transferrable research for the professional in the sociological/anthropological field and for anyone interested in the influence of illustrative media on our perception and acceptance of large scope ideas, concepts, and themes.''--Katie Cottreau-Robins Atlantic Books Today, Number 20, Spring 1998 Provides a valuable update concerning schools of thought on evolutionary theory and the effects of these theories on society's comprehension of how humans came to be.... Erect Men/Undulating Women is an engaging pice of valuable and transferrable research for the professional in the sociological/anthropological field and for anyone interested in the influence of illustrative media on our perception and acceptance of large scope ideas, concepts, and themes.''--Katie Cottreau-Robins Atlantic Books Today, Number 20, Spring 1998

Wiber has produced an interesting account of how visual imagery in reconstructive illustrations of human evolution has itself evolved over the years.... Her distinction between the naked form and the nude form--the latter meant to affect the viewer through eroticism--is an excellent one.... Wiber's book is well written and includes 16 illustrations and a more than adequte index.''--M.J. O'Brien Choice, June 1998

Author Information

Melanie G. Wiber received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Alberta. Her research interests include development studies, legal anthropology and gender studies. She is the author of Politics, Property and Law in the Philippine Uplands (WLU Press) and co-editor with Joep Spiertz of The Role of Law in Natural Resources Management, which is available in North America from WLU Press.

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