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A Study on Image of Deformity: Speciality of the Form of “Abnormal” and “Monster”

Pyung-jong Park 1

1상명대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study deals with cultural meaning of the “abnormal” and the “monster” analysing images of deformity. “Deformity” indicate all abnormal organism that have studied the general science like biology, medicine, embryology, etc. Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and Isidore, his son, founded the teratology, providing fundamentals concepts on the abnormal and the monster. According to him, a deformity signifies the serious abnormal being among four abnormals types. In fact, the problem of “deformity” has been seriously studied in the sphere of the natural science, but not in the sphere of the human science, especially like esthetic, art history, etc. So, this study aims above all at introduce the question of deformity in the sphere of cultural history, and enrich objects of iconology which are materials of art history or history of photography. Medicals photographs producted in 19th century are very important from a point of view of teratology: images of deformity producted by picture were not corrects ;there are some fictional being among these images. But the photography rectified these errors. Henceforward fictional being was excluded from iconology of deformity.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.