Animating the Anatomical Specimen
Regional Dissection and the Incorporation of Photography in J.C.B. Grant’s An Atlas of Anatomy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8244206 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kim Sawchuk (0000-0002-1108-4153, Concordia University, Montreal, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 120-150 |
| Publication date | 2012-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Body & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1357-034X • E-ISSN: 1460-3632 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1357034x11430964 |
| OpenAlex | W1983581192 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 16 |
In 1943 Dr J.C.B. Grant, of the University of Toronto, published the first anatomical atlas ever fully produced in North America, An Atlas of Anatomy. Within the history of biomedical teaching, the publication of this textbook is remarkable for at least two reasons, both connected to the themes of animation and automation. The visual narrative of the anatomical body found in Grant’s Atlas encapsulated a paradigmatic shift in gross anatomy from a systemic approach (dividing the body into its systems) to a regional anatomy (dividing the body into areas containing interlocking systems). The contextually contingent reasons for this shift in medical training are represented in the production of this textbook. What is crucial is that anatomy is thus conceived as directly applicable to surgical practice, which intervenes on the bodies of the living, rather than the dead. The second important dimension of Grant’s Atlas was his rigorous, yet invisible, incorporation of photography into the practice of medical illustration. Grant’s Atlas systematically deployed hand-drawn tracings of photographic images in the production of his bestselling textbook to affirm an indexical connection to a ‘real body’. At the same time, this use of photography is erased within the visuals, which rely instead on hand-drawn illustrations (line-drawings and carbon-dusting) to produce this particular pedagogy of the anatomical body. The production of ‘textbook anatomy’ is thus articulated to changes in technical modes of representation (photography) and to the new techniques in print-technologies from the late 19th until the mid 20th century
Art · Gross anatomy · Literature · Narrative · Visual arts · History of Medical Practice · History of Medicine Studies · Medical History and Innovations · Medicine · Anatomy
The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
The Ontology of the Photographic Image
The Birth of the Clinic
Carnal Thoughts
The visible human project
The Visible Human Project
Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact
The Manufacture of Bodies in Surgery
Animation and automation, or, the incredible effortfulness of being
The Visible Woman
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,44 |
| Citation span | 2017 - 2024 (8) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |