ANTHROPOLOGIE
International Journal of Human Diversity and Evolution
 
Coverage: 1923-1941 (Vols. I-XIX) & 1962-2023 (Vols. 1-61)
ISSN 0323-1119 (Print)
ISSN 2570-9127 (Online)
Journal Impact Factor 0.2
News: Volume 62 Issue 3 is in progress.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SCImago Journal & Country Rank
 
 
Full text of article
'Putova B, 2018: FREAK SHOWS. OTHERNESS OF THE HUMAN BODY AS A FORM OF PUBLIC PRESENTATION. Anthropologie (Brno) 56, 2: 91-102'.
 
Abstract
The paper presents an anthropological analysis of freak shows as a form of an inhuman and Eurocentric approach to the physical and cultural differences of people from non-European cultures or to the physically handicapped. In the 19th century, their otherness became the subject of exhibitions and other forms of public presentation taking place mainly in circuses, zoological gardens or wax figure museums. The paper describes the principles and strategies of freak shows that were defined by prominent impresarios such as Phineas Taylor Barnum, Carl Hagenbeck and Albert Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. Freak shows accentuated particularly the exotic features of the exhibited individuals, their morphological differences, deviations and anomalies differing from the norm of the European population. In this context, the paper follows from the work of Eugen Strouhal, a Czech physician, anthropologist and archaeologist, in the field of physical anthropology and paleopathology.
 
Keywords
Freak shows – Anthropology – Otherness – Human body – Impresarios
 
DOI
https://doi.org/10.26720/anthro.17.07.20.1
 
 
 
 

 Full text (PDF)

 Export citation

 Related articles