GELENEKSEL DÖNEMDEN POST-MODERN DÖNEME BEDEN ANLAYIŞININ DEĞİŞİMİ

THE SHIFT ON THE UNDERSTANDING OF BODY FROM TRADITIONAL PERIOD TO POST-MODERN PERIOD

Özet

Beden, 1980'li yıllardan beri sosyolojik çözümlemelerin merkezi konularından biri olarak önem kazanmaya başlamıştır. Sosyoloji bedeni sosyo-kültürel özellikleri çerçevesinde ele alarak toplumsal yönlerini vurgulamaya çalışır. Bu bağlamda dinlerin, iktidarların, ideolojilerin ve yaşam tarzlarının beden üzerindeki etkisi dikkate değer sosyolojik veriler sağlamaktadır. Bu makalede bedenin tarihsel süreç içerisinde toplumsal zihniyet ve anlayışlara bağlı olarak nasıl bir dönüşüm geçirdiği ele alınmaktadır. Bir başka deyişle geleneksel, modern ve postmodern olarak tanımlanan toplumların temel anlayışları çerçevesinde bedene nasıl yaklaştıkları; buna bağlı olarak her bir dönemde bedenin yeri ve öneminin ne olduğu ve geçilen tarihsel süreçlerde beden anlayışının hangi yönlerden değiştiği tartışılmaktadır. Öncelikle modern öncesi ya da geleneksel dönemde toplumsal hayatı büyük ölçüde etkileyen dinin (Hıristiyanlık özelinde) bedene nasıl yaklaştığı ele alınmıştır. Bedeni günahın kaynağı olarak gören din bedensel hazları ve istekleri aşağılayarak bedene bir yer biçmiştir. Dinler birtakım ritüeller, yasaklar ve giyinme biçimleriyle varlıklarını bedenler üzerinde göstermeye çalışır. Modernite ve sekülerleşmeyle birlikte beden dinin egemenliğinden çıkmış ve yepyeni bir yer edinmiştir. Beden modern dönemde artık aşağılanan, hor görülen ve günahın kaynağı olmaktan çıkarak beğeninin, arzunun ve hazzın kaynağına dönüşmüştür. Yanı sıra dinin denetim ve kontrolünden çıkarılan bedenin yeni efendisi artık modern devlet olmuş ve beden "biyo-politka"ların temel nesnesi haline gelmiştir. Post-modern dönem ya da tüketim kültüründe ise beden, bedensel bakım, gösteriş, kimlik ve sağlık boyutlarıyla öne çıkarak adeta bir özel mülk olmuştur. Postmodern kültürün beden anlayışı ne geleneksel ne de modern döneminkine benzer. Bu kültürde beden, dinin ve devletin nesnesi olmaktan ziyade tüketimin, hazzın ve gösterişin nesnesi olmuştur

Abstract

The body has gained a central importance among sociological subjects since the 1980’s. Sociology deals with body by its sociocultural features and tries to emphasize the social sides of it. In this respect, the effects of religions, powers, ideologies, and lifestyles over body provide remarkable sociological data. In this article, it is discussed that how the body has been transformed by relying on the social mentality and understandings in historical period. In other words, it will be explored how the body is approached by the general sensibilities in traditional, modern and postmodern societies and in relation to this, how the importance and status of body is changed during the historical processes. In the study, firstly, the approach of religion (in specific to Christianity), which mainly effected the social life in pre-modern or traditional life, on the body has been discussed. Religion, which recognized the body as the source of the sins, insults the physical pleasures and necessities, so body is given such a lower position. Religions, on the other hand, want to create their own power and show their existence over bodies by means of rituals, prohibitions and dressing formats. After modernization and secularization, the body is freed from the domination of religions and it gains a new status. Instead of being humiliated and recognized as the source of the sins; body alters to the source of acclaim, desire, and pleasure. However, the modern nation state becomes the new master of the body, which was freed from the control and supervision of religion, and it is targeted as the main subject of “bio politics”. Lastly, in postmodern era or consumption culture, body in fact becomes a private property by coming to the forefront due to some dimensions such as body care, vanity, identity, and health. The understanding of body by postmodern culture is very different from both modern and traditional periods. In this postmodern culture, body becomes a subject of consumption, pleasure and vanity rather than being a subject of religion and state The body has gained a central importance among sociological subjects since the 1980’s. Sociology deals with body by its sociocultural features and tries to emphasize the social sides of it. In this respect, the effects of religions, powers, ideologies, and lifestyles over body provide remarkable sociological data. In this article, it is discussed that how the body has been transformed by relying on the social mentality and understandings in historical period. In other words, it will be explored how the body is approached by the general sensibilities in traditional, modern and postmodern societies and in relation to this, how the importance and status of body is changed during the historical processes. When the nude and beautiful body was recognized as a gift of the nature and nudity was evaluated as the success of civilization in Ancient Greek; after the Christianity, body was recognized as a wild animal that should be supervised and controlled, so to be bridled in order to gain the assent of God. Body, in terms of Christianity, catches the individual to this World and it secularizes him against the tendency of the spirit that wants to escalate to sky. Religion had shaped and controlled the body under this mentality until the modern period, when religion continues to be a dominant institution in social life. In this respect, almost every religion in pre-modern period body becomes a transporter or representative of the spirit. Generally, religions are embodied by creating an authority over their members and they scramble through the bodies of the members as a way of concretization of their ideals. In other words, religions operate themselves on the bodies in some specific ways. For example, while Islam embodies itself by some worshipping styles such as daily prayer, ablution, fast, hajj, etc., it also controls the bodies of its members by prohibiting the consumption of some foods and beverages and restricting every sexual relationship types apart from the legitimate ones. In pre-modern period, body was formed under the references of the supernal and religious authority. In this respect, the duty of the body in this world is always serving as the conveyer of the sprit. That is why; body was recognized as the tool for embodiment process of religious ideals. By this way, body, which is the embodiment and materialization of religious ideals and references, is conceptualized under the dichotomy of sin and good deed, so showed itself in the practices of everyday life. On the other hand, especially dressing and purdah styles were among the important parameters of the religious body controls and supervisions. After modernization, it is possible to claim the coming away of the body. Yet the body obtain a new status by means of secularization, which is one of the most important trivets of modernization. Obtaining such a status is based on the demonstration of the bodies of people freely. Body is not recognized anymore as a being, which is humiliated, despised, and the source of sin. On the contrary, it becomes the source of pleasure, fancy, and delight. After the technical revolution, vulgarity slowly gets into the mass culture by means of erotic and pornographic photos and it becomes a large market that develops fast after the 1940’s. Through the end of the 19th Century, sights and actions are continuingly freed; hedonism increases and a sexuality that is based on bodily desires and eroticism but venereal diseases come into the ground. Thus, it is not only the generation of ancient regime’s sociopolitical upheaval, but is also the consequence of the defeat of the general understanding on ethic and body. Beside this, modern idea de-constructed the traditional body and re-constructed it. It also blows secular mind-set and gives it a new shape, so construct the modern body. On the other hand, modern body becomes the basic implementation platform of biopolitics. As a res