Body Trade: Captivity, Cannibalism and Colonialism in the Pacific

Captivity, cannibalism, the circus, trading in bodies, prostitution- these subjects are all examined in Body Trade, the first scholarly book to explore postcolonial issues in relation to the body in Australia and the Pacific. In this fascinating analysis, a team of international scholars from a range of disciplines, anthropology, literature, film, art history, and culture studies examine the historical significance of the way in which the human body has been held captive, traded, and placed on display throughout the western world. The essays cover an extraordinary range of topics from events, exhibitions, and artworks dating from the time of Captain Cook's voyages in the Pacific, to a discussion of contemporary film, video, literature, and painting. They explore the West's fascination with the body of the "other": the body as primitive, captive, cannibalized, tattooed, and erotic.