THE SHAPE AS A CAGE: When the Representation of Deformity Defines the Nature of Beauty

Abstract

The reasons which led the study of bodily deformed people lie on the fascination of the relationship established between ‘normal’ people and freaks. The term ‘freak’, short for freak of nature, has commonly been applied to those people whose body is deform. On approaching this thorny and delicate topic, it was functional to provide different perspectives and to analyse a phenomenon that is still affecting numerous people. To some extent, it seems reasonable to affirm that freaks challenge the boundaries between normalcy and oddity, in that they can be seen as liminal figures. Indeed, it will be demonstrated how freaks actually incarnates the ultimate other and forces ‘normal’ people to reconsider their status, both from a physical and psychological point of view. Freaks hold the mirror, which allows the representation of normalcy through their own deformation. This thesis seeks to evaluate the thematic of physical deformation from two different perspectives: the anthropological and artistic one, by looking closely at three key concepts: the reaction ‘normal’ people have when facing deformity, the causes of the reaction, and the consequences of it. Indeed, throughout the first part of this thesis, an etymological, historical and cultural insight of freaks and of how they were perceived by ‘normal’ people is provided, while the second part will focus on the visual and artistic depiction of freaks. Finally, the study of visual arts will be tremendously relevant, in order to analyse how society behaves towards freaks, how the artist perceives deformation, and how the public responds to the work of art and not merely to deformation itself.