ABSTRACT

As perhaps the most ephemeral historical object, studying the physical body in history is a challenging and complex affair. It is for this reason that many scholars have lamented the ‘invisible body’ in historical research, that is to say the lived, healthy, body which is often discussed but never truly examined. Using the example of physical culture in Ireland in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, this article explores the idea of ‘body projects’ as a historical tool. Understood as the interplay between physical form, discourse and technology, the ‘body project’ represented an explicit and repeated effort to demonstrate one’s commitment to exercise. Performed as a means of excavating, at least somewhat, the physical body in history, the article provides a new method of studying the historical body. In the case of physical culture, training texts impacted the body which, in turn, was recreated through photography, measurements and text. This was the ‘body project’ at play. Studying the men involved, and the discourses they used, the article examines ‘body projects’ as a tool of analysis, one which encompasses body, image and text.

摘要

作为历史上最短暂的历史对象，研究历史上的身体是一项具有挑战性和复杂性的事情。因此，许多学者对历史研究中的“无形的身体”感叹不已，也就是说，经常讨论但从未真正检查过的活的，健康的身体。本文以19世纪末和20世纪初爱尔兰的体育文化为例，探讨了“身体项目”作为历史工具的思想。被理解为身体形式，话语和技术之间的相互作用，“身体项目”代表了明确而反复的努力，以证明自己对锻炼的承诺。作为挖掘至少某种程度的历史身体的一种手段，本文提供了一种研究历史身体的新方法。如果是体育文化，训练文字影响了身体，而身体又通过摄影，测量和文字重新创建。这是正在发挥作用的“身体项目”。通过研究相关人员及其使用的话语，本文将“身体项目”作为一种分析工具进行了考察，该工具涵盖了身体，图像和文本。