Full Description
"A thick, tangled and deliciously idiosyncratic history of hair." Times Literary Supplement
Hair, or lack of it, is one the most significant identifiers of individuals in any society. In Antiquity, the power of hair to send a series of social messages was no different. This volume covers nearly a thousand years of history, from Archaic Greece to the end of the Roman Empire, concentrating on what is now Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Among the key issues identified by its authors is the recognition that in any given society male and female hair tend to be opposites (when male hair is generally short, women's is long); that hair is a marker of age and stage of life (children and young people have longer, less confined hairstyles; adult hair is far more controlled); hair can be used to identify the 'other' in terms of race and ethnicity but also those who stand outside social norms such as witches and mad women.
The chapters in A Cultural History of Hair in Antiquity cover the following topics: religion and ritualized belief, self and society, fashion and adornment, production and practice, health and hygiene, gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, class and social status, and cultural representations.
Contents
Series Preface
Introduction
1. Religion and Ritualized Belief, Mary Harlow and Lena Larsson Lovén
2. Self and Society, Katharine A. Schwab and Marice Rose
3. Fashion and Adornment, Kelly Olson
4. Production and Practice, Janet Stephens
5. Health and Hygiene, Lydia Matthews
6. Gender and Sexuality, Mary Harlow
7. Race and Ethnicity, Marguerite Johnson
8. Class and Social Status, Susan Stewart
9. Cultural Representations, Glenys Davies
Notes
Bibliography
Notes on Contributors
Index
