Holly Fletcher – författare

Body Size in Early Modern Germany uncovers the significance of fatness and thinness in early modern German society and culture. It explores how early modern people conceived of fat and thin bodies, in terms of both the cultural meanings attached to body size and personal perceptions of the body. Holly Fletcher argues that body size became an increasingly prominent concern throughout the German-speaking regions from the late-fifteenth to the early-seventeenth century. During this period, perceptions and practices relating to body size shifted dramatically, as the size and shape of people's bodies attracted unprecedented attention. Body size became embedded in everyday habits and experiences like never before. This transformation took place against the backdrop of profound social, religious and cultural developments which characterised the sixteenth century. Drawing on a wide array of sources, the book charts changing attitudes towards body size in relation to these developments, including the proliferation of printed medical advice, artistic theories of proportion, Reformation debates, and new body-moulding fashions. It also connects shifting ideals for women's and men's bodies to the embodied experiences of early modern protagonists. By revealing the enormous importance that early modern Germans attached to body size, this study overturns the false assumption that concern with body size is a modern phenomenon and sheds new light on sixteenth-century German culture.

Body Size in Early Modern Germany uncovers the significance of fatness and thinness in early modern German society and culture. It explores how early modern people conceived of fat and thin bodies, in terms of both the cultural meanings attached to body size and personal perceptions of the body. Holly Fletcher argues that body size became an increasingly prominent concern throughout the German-speaking regions from the late-fifteenth to the early-seventeenth century. During this period, perceptions and practices relating to body size shifted dramatically, as the size and shape of people's bodies attracted unprecedented attention. Body size became embedded in everyday habits and experiences like never before. This transformation took place against the backdrop of profound social, religious and cultural developments which characterised the sixteenth century. Drawing on a wide array of sources, the book charts changing attitudes towards body size in relation to these developments, including the proliferation of printed medical advice, artistic theories of proportion, Reformation debates, and new body-moulding fashions. It also connects shifting ideals for women's and men's bodies to the embodied experiences of early modern protagonists. By revealing the enormous importance that early modern Germans attached to body size, this study overturns the false assumption that concern with body size is a modern phenomenon and sheds new light on sixteenth-century German culture.

Body Size in Early Modern Germany uncovers the significance of fatness and thinness in early modern German society and culture. It explores how early modern people conceived of fat and thin bodies, in terms of both the cultural meanings attached to body size and personal perceptions of the body. Holly Fletcher argues that body size became an increasingly prominent concern throughout the German-speaking regions from the late-fifteenth to the early-seventeenth century. During this period, perceptions and practices relating to body size shifted dramatically, as the size and shape of people's bodies attracted unprecedented attention. Body size became embedded in everyday habits and experiences like never before. This transformation took place against the backdrop of profound social, religious and cultural developments which characterised the sixteenth century. Drawing on a wide array of sources, the book charts changing attitudes towards body size in relation to these developments, including the proliferation of printed medical advice, artistic theories of proportion, Reformation debates, and new body-moulding fashions. It also connects shifting ideals for women's and men's bodies to the embodied experiences of early modern protagonists. By revealing the enormous importance that early modern Germans attached to body size, this study overturns the false assumption that concern with body size is a modern phenomenon and sheds new light on sixteenth-century German culture.

This book is the first to examine understandings and experiences of fatness in early modern Europe (c. 1450–1700), uncovering attitudes towards fat bodies across England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain through interdisciplinary analysis.Readers will gain a comprehensive understanding of how early modern Europeans perceived and experienced fat bodies through historically specific contexts rather than modern assumptions. The book delivers this through interdisciplinary scholarship combining history, art history, and literary studies to analyse sources across five major European regions. This approach reveals both continuities and contradictions in attitudes towards corpulence, examining medical, artistic, and literary perspectives within their proper historical frameworks. By considering early modern experiences on their own terms and relating them to period-specific conceptions of embodiment, readers will develop nuanced appreciation for how fatness was understood before modern medical and social constructs emerged.This book is written for students and scholars of the early modern period, particularly those studying European history, cultural history, and the history of the body. It will also appeal to researchers in fat studies seeking historical perspectives and non-specialists interested in historical attitudes towards bodies and embodiment.

This book is the first to examine understandings and experiences of fatness in early modern Europe (c. 1450-1700), uncovering attitudes towards fat bodies across England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain through interdisciplinary analysis.Readers will gain a comprehensive understanding of how early modern Europeans perceived and experienced fat bodies through historically specific contexts rather than modern assumptions. The book delivers this through interdisciplinary scholarship combining history, art history, and literary studies to analyse sources across five major European regions. This approach reveals both continuities and contradictions in attitudes towards corpulence, examining medical, artistic, and literary perspectives within their proper historical frameworks. By considering early modern experiences on their own terms and relating them to period-specific conceptions of embodiment, readers will develop nuanced appreciation for how fatness was understood before modern medical and social constructs emerged.This book is written for students and scholars of the early modern period, particularly those studying European history, cultural history, and the history of the body. It will also appeal to researchers in fat studies seeking historical perspectives and non-specialists interested in historical attitudes towards bodies and embodiment.