Fat. The very word conjures up images of excess weight and ill health. We have come to view the notion of “fatness” as something akin to being unhealthy, morally repugnant and socially damaging.
In fact, “fat-ness” has historically been a national problem across every age and social paradigm. Culture and tradition have defined a point beyond which excess weight is unacceptable, ugly or corrupting.
The new book published by Wiley-Blackwell, Fat - a Cultural History of Obesity examines the social and cultural concept of fat. It explores the history of fat in culture – from nineteenth-century opera to our global dieting obsession today.
Written from the cultural-historical perspective, the book is particularly concerned with the cultural meanings that have been attached to the notion of “fatness” over time. Author Professor Sander Gilman explores the interweaving of fact and fiction about concept of corpulence, as he traces the ongoing public concern for this issue – from the mid-nineteenth century right through to the modern day. He also looks critically at the source of our anxieties, and examines issues such as childhood obesity, the production of food, media coverage of the subject and the emergence of obesity in modern China.
Fat - a Cultural History of Obesity seeks to explore the implications of these varied meanings of “fatness” for wider society – it makes for a vivid and absorbing cultural guide to one of the most important topics in modern society.
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About the book
Fat – a Cultural History of Obesity (Publication Date: September, 2008)
US$22.95; Hardcover; 200 pages; ISBN: 978-0-7645-4441-7
Additional information on the book is available at http://as.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0745644406,descCd-description.html
Media wishing to receive a copy of the book for review in their publication, or schedule interviews with the author should contact Alina Boey, Senior Manager Corporate Communications at aboey@wiley.com or phone +65-96565580.
About the author
Sander L. Gilman is a Distinguished Professor of the Liberal Arts and Medicine at Emory University, and is renowned in the US and the UK for his previous books in the History of Medicine and psychoanalysis.
About Wiley-Blackwell
Wiley-Blackwell was formed in February 2007 as a result of the acquisition of Blackwell Publishing Ltd. by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and its merger with Wiley’s Scientific, Technical, and Medical business. Together, the companies have created a global publishing business with deep strength in every major academic and professional field. Wiley-Blackwell publishes approximately 1,400 scholarly peer-reviewed journals and an extensive collection of books with global appeal.
About Wiley:
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for over 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Since 1901, Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 350 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology/Medicine, Chemistry, Physics and Peace.
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