Magic and Medicine: Man into Woman and Anthropology

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

The article argues that its contemporary anthropology (rather than sexology) provides an interesting perspective on the pioneering transsexual text Man into Woman (1933). The early twentieth-century work of Bogoraz and others on the 'transformed shaman' of the Pacific NW provides a perspective on gender-shifting which is in some ways close to the text's emphasis on magic and performance. Bogoraz is in turn taken up by Wyndham Lewis in The Art of Being Ruled: Lewis's thinking on gender plasticity provides some comparisons with the Lili Elbe story.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMan into Woman
Subtitle of host publicationA Comparative Scholarly Edition
EditorsPamela Caughie, Sabine Meyer
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherBloomsbury
Pages245-253
Number of pages9
ISBN (Print)1350021490
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2020

Keywords

  • Lili Elbe
  • transsexualism
  • sexology
  • Wyndham Lewis
  • Bogoras
  • van Gennep
  • Man into Woman
  • anthropology

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