University of Warwick, Ramphal Building, Room R2.42

Thursday 7th June 2pm-6.30pm

Physiognomics (namely ‘knowledge of nature’) has been for centuries a means for the understanding of human personality from the outer appearance. Still today, voluminous hair may suggest courage, an aquiline nose denote leadership, while big and deep-set eyes might point to intelligence. Physiognomics has developed across time and disciplines, from medicine to magic, art, cinema and literature, thus producing a variety of outcomes, among which:

- the elaboration of medical theories and therapies aimed at balancing the quantity of the four ‘humors’ circulating in the human body (as in humoral medicine by Galen and Hippocrates)

- the perception of the body as a mirror of the universe and as a means of predicting the future with the aid of magic and astrology (e.g. the studies on human physiognomy by G. B. Della Porta);

- the prediction of criminal inclinations of individuals by classifying ‘dangerous’ physiognomic traits, such as the size and conformation of the skull as in nineteenth-century criminal anthropology and phrenology;

- the assessment of the personality of an individual through his/her physical traits as in the terrains of literature, cinema and art, which use the body as one of their most powerful languages;

- the representation of the stability and instability of human identity by combining the body components in hybridized and fragmented ways as in twentieth-century artistic avant-gardes.

By investigating relevant case-studies, this symposium aims to explore the history and practice of physiognomics in its cross-disciplinary connections and examine the way it has established itself as a well-grounded investigative tool through the centuries. By exploring this question, the symposium aims to address broader issues such as: how did the conception of the body change in time and influence the sciences and the arts? How did disciplines like medicine and astrology merge into the fields of literature, philosophy and art?

Finally, the symposium will consider the legacy of physiognomics in contemporary culture and society. Indeed, while the practice of unveiling the human soul through its outer appearance is now declining, we continue to place importance on the body as a communication tool (for instance, as testified by the current fashion of modifying the body through aesthetic surgery and chip implantations and its image through photo-editing tools). Such elements urge us to investigate further the ‘reading the human body’ in order to better understand the dynamics that still inform contemporary society.

Dr Paola Roccella, University of Warwick, Italian Studies

Programme tba