Hyewon Ryu: "The Metropolitan Body in the Rise of the Early English Novel"

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A few years back, though not many, Professor Julie Choi here at Ewha Womans University asked if I could assist with one of her doctoral students in English literature, an especially gifted student, Ms. Hyewon Ryu (류혜원), who was working on the emergence of the English novel, and since I'm interested in literature, I agreed to serve as proofreader and occasional adviser.

That was a good decision, for I enjoyed working with Ms. Ryu, mostly offering editorial suggestions, but occasionally referring her to a book, e.g., Martin Jay's Downcast Eyes for the line Jay draws between Christianity's stress on God's clear, corrective vision of the individual and modern regulation of the body through observation that has been internalized. Whatever I might have contributed through such suggestions -- and there was little improvement for me to suggest -- Ms. Ryu recently submitted her thesis, "The Metropolitan Body in the Rise of the Early English Novel," and found it approved, making her now "Dr. Ryu." Here's the first paragraph of her "Abstract":

This thesis examines the eighteenth-century English novel in terms of the metropolitan body, molded in and by the discursive space of London. Viewing the body as both specific and collective, somatic and discursive, this thesis traces the interrelation between the construction of the novel and the body, particularly with regard to the city of London. The analysis is based upon the assumption that many strata coordinate the construction of the body as a nexus of discursive, spatial, and somatic operations. The eighteenth-century novel not only reflects the physicality of the body but shapes it through the production and consumption of discourses about the body. How the disruptive corporeality of the metropolitan body and its discipline configure the topography of London in the new form of the novel is the main concern of this thesis. Extending the Foucauldian framework of changing technologies of discipline, and incorporating the critique of everyday lived experience to the literary domain of the novel, this thesis views the structure of the eighteenth-century novel as corporeally and topographically figured.

Abstracts are always abstract. Her main point is an extension of Foucault's analysis of the way in which Modernity disciplined the body by subjecting it to continual observation, but she also draws upon the insights of Norbert Elias on the civilizing process. Now that I think of it, I ought to have directed her to Marcel Mauss's 1934 essay, "Techniques of the Body," in which he observes, "We no longer know how to squat." Well, I cannot think of everything, and perhaps not of this point in particular because, like modern folk everywhere, I'm too preoccupied with standing tall. Actually, I tend to slouch, but my teenage son, who stands straight, is working on disciplining my body by subjecting me to continual observation -- a domestic variant of Foucault's panopticon -- and correcting my slouching lack of discipline through his endless observations! Speaking of discipline and its lack, I've gotten off-topic. I wanted to add that despite the abstractness of Dr. Ryu's "Abstract," the thesis is in fact very easy to read -- well written, well supported, well done! And in spite of my inadequacies as informal adviser, Dr. Ryu mentions me in the "Acknowledgements":

I also appreciate the time and effort Horace Jeffery Hodges has spent carefully reviewing my thesis.

Dr. Ryu didn't really need much of my help, but anyway, if others out there are interested in the rise of the English novel, this thesis is a good place to start. I suppose it'll be in Ewha's library.

Oh, that image above! Ned Ward's London Spy is one of the early texts Dr. Ryu analyzes . . .

Horace Jeffery Hodges: "Crossing the Sacred-Profane Divide in Gnosticism and John's Gospel"

Ewha Womans University Press

Yesterday saw the arrival of my copy of Trans-Humanities, a journal published by Ewha Womans University, containing my most recent publication, "Crossing the Sacred-Profane Divide in Gnosticism and John's Gospel" (Trans-Humanities, 2011, Volume 4, Number 1). Readers with interest enough to obtain a copy can find my article on pages 163-176. Here's the abstract:

Abstract

Marcel Mauss and Mary Douglas together offer a theoretical understanding of gift-giving that enables us to draw a crucial distinction between the crossing of the sacred-profane boundary in Gnostic systems and the Johannine one. This distinction is particularly evident when such crossing leads to transactions involving the offer of nourishment. The sacred and the profane do not easily mix in any system, but in Gnostic texts and John's Gospel, the conflict between these dynamic forces of the two realms is presented as working itself out differently. This conflict is irresolvable in the former due to its substance dualism, but it is resolvable in the latter due to its ethical dualism. Gifts of nourishment accentuate this difference, such that the reciprocity and ambiguity that Mauss sees in gift-giving work out their implications differently. Conflict is shown to be accentuated in Gnostic systems, but ultimately resolved in the Johannine one. (Horace Jeffery Hodges, "Crossing the Sacred-Profane Divide in Gnosticism and John's Gospel," Trans-Humanities, 2011, Volume 4, Number 1, page 176)

For a taste of the article itself, here's the introduction:

Perhaps, as has been said, we live today in a fast-changing world in which cultural boundaries undergo rapid deconstruction and reconstruction. But in our emphasis upon the radical transformations that occur in our present age, we might forget that boundaries have always been contested. Such forgetfulness draws a line between our time and the past, but a drawn line presents a challenge. This paper will attempt to cross that implicit, temporal boundary, along with some disciplinary boundaries, e.g., anthropology and religious studies, and thereby offer a new horizon on boundary-crossing in some ancient texts. The boundary in question is the one between the profane and the sacred, and a few things need to be said here by way of introduction. This border between the profane and the sacred identifies a division between the ordinary and the extraordinary. Although the sacred realm is generally considered to contain dynamic power, each of these two realms can be understood as having a power of its own. Particularly in Gnosticism, due to its radical substance dualism, the profane realm has significant power at odds with the sacred realm. Similarly, canonical Christianity presupposes a power within the profane realm. The opposition of these forces poses problems for anyone or anything moving across the sacred-profane border. An earthly descent by a sacred being thus constitutes a precarious excursion, particularly if this involves an encounter with earthly nourishment, and especially if this nourishment is presented as a gift, as we shall come to see through applying the insights of Marcel Mauss on reciprocity and ambiguity in gift-giving. To understand the danger better, consider the social role that food and drink play. In an anthropological study on the role of drinking, Mary Douglas notes how drinks can "act as markers of personal identity and of boundaries of inclusion and exclusion" ("Distinctive" 8). Much the same holds for food, which, as Douglas notes, "actually delivers good fellowship" ("Standard" 12). Food and drink as gifts increase the force of this bonding and reciprocity, and when nourishment as a gift crosses the sacred-profane border, some very interesting consequences result that depend upon the difference between the sacred and the profane and upon the intention of the giver or recipient. In Gnostic systems, with their substance dualism of good spirit and evil matter, genuine gift-giving cannot occur, for neither true bonding nor actual reciprocity is possible between two intrinsically antithetical realms. Such gifts are pseudo-gifts intended for subverting the power of the one accepting them. This contrasts with systems based upon an ethical dualism of good and evil, where genuine gift-giving across the sacred-profane divide is possible. To illustrate this difference, this paper will focus upon the descent of heavenly figures in Gnostic texts and the purportedly 'Gnostic' Gospel of John, their encounter with gifts of earthly nourishment, and their own gifts of heavenly nourishment.

Douglas, Mary. "A Distinctive Anthropological Perspective." Constructive Drinking: Perspectives on Drink from Anthropology. Ed. Mary Douglas. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987.

---. "Standard Social Uses of Food: Introduction." Food in the Social Order: Studies of Food and Festivities in Three American Communities. New York: 1984.

Perhaps that will prove enticing, my gift to you of food for thought . . .