Human Beings and their Images

Christoph Wulf is Professor of Anthropology and Philosophy of Education and Co-Founder of the Interdisciplinary Center for Historical Anthropology at the Free University of Berlin, Germany.

• List of IllustrationsPart I. Image and Imagination1. The World as Image: The Great Image without Form2. Imagination and the Development of Human Beings3. Iconic Forms of Imagination4. Theories and Concepts of ImaginationPart II. Imagination and the Imaginary5. Collectivity and the Dynamic of the Imaginary6. The Imaginary, the Symbolic and the Real7. The Performativity of the Imagination8. Images as ActionsPart III. Imagination and Practices of the Body9. The World of Play and Games10. The Anthropology of Dance11. The Human Need for Rituals12. Gestures as LanguagePart IV. Mimesis and Cultural Learning13. Cultural Learning as Mimetic Learning14. The Intangible Cultural Heritage15. Family Rituals16. Family HappinessConclusion: The Power of ImagesBibliography Index

Christoph Wulf’s anthropological approach to images, studying the way we appropriate them through mimesis and rituals, and their power to shape the personality and generate multiple human worlds, makes this an indispensable book for anyone interested in their role in culture, the arts, the training of the body, and the rise of the personal and social imaginaries. This is one of the broadest works on the subject available in English.