Arc of Feeling: The History of the Swing

(Hardback)

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In Arc of Feeling Javier Moscoso investigates the pleasure of oscillation and explores the surprising history of the swing through its meanings and metaphors, noting echoes and coincidences in remote times and places, from the witch's broom to aerial yoga, and from the gallows to sexual mores. Taking in cultural history, science, art, anthropology and philosophy, Moscoso explores the presence and role of this artefact in the West, such as in the works of Watteau, Fragonard and Goya, as well as in Eastern traditions, including those from India, Korea, Thailand and China. Linked since ancient times with sex and death, used by gods and madmen and as an erotic and therapeutic instrument, the swing is revealed to be an essential but neglected object in the history of human experience.

Reviews

"Arc of Feeling places swings in an--appropriately--dizzying series of contexts over the centuries from the gallows to the garden and from play to sex and death. Moscoso's book is a real tour de force."--Peter Burke, professor emeritus of cultural history and fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge

Author Bio

Javier Moscoso is Research Professor of History at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), and his books include Pain: A Cultural History (2012).