FACULTY OF ARTS
DEPARTMENTS OF WOMEN’S AND
GENDER STUDIES & ANTHROPOLOGY
AND SOCIOLOGY
Invite you to a seminar by:
Efua Prah
The Embodiment of pregnancy
Within the annals of contemporary ethnographic research on the body, the
subject of pregnancy and birthing is barely visible, however, the various
narratives of women traversing - some for the first time - into physical,
emotional and transcendental spaces is abundant. This research aims to explore
the embodied universe that women express as they transform their bodies into
vessels through which life emerges. Essential to this aim is to posit a
contribution to an anthropological platform that engages with discussions on
embodiment and the body. Affect theory is used to analytically frame the
discussion, shedding light on the relationship between the body and emotions and
the subsequent patterns of ‘being’ that emerge. The work of Thomas Csordas will
be used to probe the nature of what embodiment misses and how the pregnant
journey may offer a methodological advantage to the discussion, hence reforming
the terrain of the ‘self’ and ‘identity’.
This research paper is part of a larger study supported by the Andrew William
(AW) Mellon Foundation under the supervision of Prof. Fiona Ross, AW Mellon
Research Chair, School of African and Gender Studies, Anthropology and
Linguistics, University of Cape Town
Dr. Efua Prah is lecturer in Anthropology at the University of the Western
Cape. Her scholarly interests include critical methodological practice,
violence, childhood studies, sexuality, pregnancy, and birthing.
DATE:
TIME:
VENUE:
Thursday 30 April 2015
1.00 – 2.30 p.m.
Antho/Soc Seminar Room/lab 1.420
RSVP: Mawaddah Abrahams wgs@uwc.ac.za and tshefer@uwc.ac.za
ALL ARE WELCOME!