Contours of the Flesh - The Semiotics of Pain - Darlene M. Juschka
Ancient Spartan Masculinities and Pain: A Case Study
Contours of the Flesh - The Semiotics of Pain - Darlene M. Juschka
Darlene M. Juschka [+]
University of Regina
Darlene M. Juschka is an associate professor in the Department of Gender, Religious and Critical Studies at the University of Regina, Canada.
Description
In this chapter I argue that at the center of the construction of Spartan masculinity is the signifier pain. Pain determines the boundaries between proper and improper masculinity. This chapter investigates, then, the mythic construction of Spartan masculinity in the works of modern and ancient male authors showing how pain as indexical sign deployed in myth and ritual is a central signifier by which to mark proper masculinity, Spartan and otherwise.