Body Image and Identity in Contemporary Societies

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Interest in body image issues has surged recently, driven by contemporary society's focus on individual responsibility and the advancements of modern medicine. However, the academic exploration of body image remains relatively new. The contributors delve into the intricate social, political, and aesthetic links between body image and identity, offering fresh insights into contemporary visual art and literature while considering how these constructs influence clinical treatment. Sukhanova and Thomashoff compile perspectives from psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, and scholars across social sciences and humanities, examining representations of the body in literature and art through various cultural lenses. The chapters investigate the social construction of the 'ideal' body concerning beauty, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, and disability, employing a broadly psychoanalytic approach. This interdisciplinary work seeks to connect clinical observations with semiotic theory research, appealing to psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, art therapists, art theorists, and academics interested in body image and identity. Ekaterina Sukhanova is a University Director at CUNY and actively engages in research on cultural constructs of mental health while curating art exhibits. Hans-Otto Thomashoff, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst based in Vienna, has curated art exhibitions that explore the relationship between psyche a