Mobilizing the Sense of “Fat”: A Phenomenological Materialist Approach
Slatman,Jenny
Slatman,Jenny
Abstract
This paper aims to mobilize the way we think and write about fat bodies while drawing on Jean-Luc Nancy’s philosophy of the body. I introduce Nancy’s approach to the body as an addition to contemporary new materialism. His philosophy, so I argue, offers a form of materialism that allows for a phenomenological exploration of the body. As such, it can help us to understand the lived experiences of fat embodiment. Additionally, Nancy’s idea of the body in terms of a “corpus”—a collection of pieces without a unity—together with his idea of corpus-writing—fragmentary writing, without head and tail—can help us to mobilize fixed meanings of fat. To apply Nancy’s conceptual frame to a concrete manifestation of fat embodiment, I provide a reading of Roxane Gay’s memoir Hunger (2017). In my analysis, I identify how the materiality of fat engenders the meaning of embodiment, and how it shapes how a fat body can and cannot be a body. Moreover, I propose that Gay’s writing style—hesitating and circling – involves an example of corpus-writing. The corpus of corpulence that Gay has created gives voice to the precariousness of a fat body's materialization.
Description
Funding Information: This research is funded by a VICI grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO), Grant Number: 277-20.008/2737. Funding Information: I would like to thank Annemie Halsema and Joni Puranen for their constructive comments on this paper. Colleagues in the Culture Studies department at Tilburg University have provided me with valuable feedback on the initial ideas of this paper during an animated (online) PEERS-meeting Spring 2020. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).
Date
2021-12
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Research Projects
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Keywords
Fat embodiment, Jean-Luc Nancy, Materialism, Phenomenology, Roxane Gay
Citation
Slatman, J 2021, 'Mobilizing the Sense of “Fat” : A Phenomenological Materialist Approach', Human Studies, vol. 44, no. 4, pp. 675-692. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-021-09595-2