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Les techniques du corps
Jusqu'où le corps peut-il être un outil ? Nager, marcher, courir, faire l'amour, jardiner ou bricoler, donner naissance ou méditer : ces gestes et postures ne sont pas les mêmes d'une société à l'autre, d'une époque à l'autre, d'un âge à l'autre, ou selon qu'on est un homme ou une femme ; ils n'ont pas non plus le même sens et ne se transmettent pas de la même façon. Mauss, le premier, s'est attardé sur eux ; Bourdieu y puisera la célèbre notion d'habitus. Un classique, préfacé par David Le Breton, et suivi de deux essais : l'un qui montre que nos sentiments ne sont pas spontanés, l'autre qui s'interroge sur notre goût du risque et nos difficultés à voir la mort en face.
144 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1934
About the author
Marcel Mauss
90 books144 followersMauss was born in Épinal, Vosges to a Jewish family, and studied philosophy at Bordeaux, where his uncle Émile Durkheim was teaching at the time and agregated in 1893. Instead of taking the usual route of teaching at a lycée, however, Mauss moved to Paris and took up the study of comparative religion and the Sanskrit language. His first publication in 1896 marked the beginning of a prolific career that would produce several landmarks in the sociological literature.
Like many members of Année Sociologique Mauss was attracted to socialism, particularly that espoused by Jean Jaurès. He was particularly active in the events of the Dreyfus affair and towards the end of the century he helped edit such left-wing papers as le Populaire, l'Humanité and le Mouvement Socialiste, the last in collaboration with Georges Sorel.
Mauss took up a chair in the 'history of religion and uncivilized peoples' at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in 1901. It was at this time that he began drawing more and more on ethnography, and his work began increasingly to look like what we would today call anthropology.
The years of World War I were absolutely devastating for Mauss. Many of his friends and colleagues died in the war, and Durkheim died shortly before its end. The postwar years were also difficult politically for Mauss. Durkheim had made changes to school curricula across France, and after his death a backlash against his students began. Like many other followers of Durkheim, Mauss took refuge in administration, securing Durkheim's legacy by founding institutions such as l'Institut Français de Sociologie (1924) and l'Institut d'Ethnologie in 1926. In 1931 he took up the chair of Sociology at the Collège de France. He actively fought against anti-semitism and racial politics both before and after World War II. He died in 1950.
Like many members of Année Sociologique Mauss was attracted to socialism, particularly that espoused by Jean Jaurès. He was particularly active in the events of the Dreyfus affair and towards the end of the century he helped edit such left-wing papers as le Populaire, l'Humanité and le Mouvement Socialiste, the last in collaboration with Georges Sorel.
Mauss took up a chair in the 'history of religion and uncivilized peoples' at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in 1901. It was at this time that he began drawing more and more on ethnography, and his work began increasingly to look like what we would today call anthropology.
The years of World War I were absolutely devastating for Mauss. Many of his friends and colleagues died in the war, and Durkheim died shortly before its end. The postwar years were also difficult politically for Mauss. Durkheim had made changes to school curricula across France, and after his death a backlash against his students began. Like many other followers of Durkheim, Mauss took refuge in administration, securing Durkheim's legacy by founding institutions such as l'Institut Français de Sociologie (1924) and l'Institut d'Ethnologie in 1926. In 1931 he took up the chair of Sociology at the Collège de France. He actively fought against anti-semitism and racial politics both before and after World War II. He died in 1950.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 5, 2022
"Les cas d'invention, de position de principes sont rares. Les cas d'adaptation sont une chose psychologique individuelle"
un essai approfondi sur les techniques du corps humain; leur origine sociale et leur processus d'intériorisation. les recherches sont très intéressantes, et les exemples illustrent bien la réflexion sur l'instrument, l'objet technique que devient le corps humain selon les normes du mode de vie et de la société dans laquelle il évolue.
un essai approfondi sur les techniques du corps humain; leur origine sociale et leur processus d'intériorisation. les recherches sont très intéressantes, et les exemples illustrent bien la réflexion sur l'instrument, l'objet technique que devient le corps humain selon les normes du mode de vie et de la société dans laquelle il évolue.
July 28, 2023
“The child, the adult, imitates actions which have succeeded and which he has seen successfully performed by people in whom he has confidence and who have authority over him. The action is imposed from without, from above, even if it is an exclusively biological action, involving his body. The individual borrows the series of movements which constitute it from the action executed in front of him or with him by others”
March 21, 2023
Marcel Mauss aborde et pointe des éléments intéressants mais, malheureusement, il ne développe. Il propose simplement des pistes d’études. Cela aurait été plus utiles d’expliquer de quelle manière ces différences d’apprentissage de la natation ou autre se perçoivent cognitivement…
November 28, 2024
Read for a course: The Anthropology of Sports
August 20, 2025
petit livre de psycho sympa
October 21, 2025
Everyone should read this, I was glued to the pages, even though they sometimes weren't the most interesting.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews