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- Title
ABNORMAL АNATOMY: HUDSPETH'S CONTRIBUTION TO HETEROLOGY.
- Authors
Lopičić, Vesna A.
- Abstract
In his novel The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black (2013) E. B. Hudspeth asks the crucial question through the mouth of his protagonist that helps understand his peculiar interests: At what point does 'man' begin and 'animal' end? To provide an answer Dr. Black resorts to 'black' practices for which he is anathemised and excluded from the academic community. This will only intensify his research of human anatomy and lead him to the conclusion that if man and animal are anatomically homologous, then it would be logical to assume that man is also connected to some extinct (mythological) beings such as sphinx, siren, satyr, minotaur, ganesha, centaur or harpy. Further, in Dr. Black's opinion, this common ancestry could also explain some atavistic birth anomalies such as remnant tails or webbed toes. Finally, behind this medical issue lurks the moral problem since the doctor is convinced that there was an ongoing grand conspiracy to conceal mankind's true origin shared with some mythological animals. The aim of this article is to explore how Hudspeth's revival of mythological anatomy fits with George Bataille's science of heterology; also, why Hudspeth chose to write about and anatomically illustrate mythical beings which are conventionally classified as imaginary; further, why was it necessary to set his novel in the 19th century? Does the 21st century still harbour the conspiracy related to human descent? Research by Michael A. Cremo, Linda Moulton Howe and other researchers will be used to challenge the dominant evolutionary theory and redefine man's origin along the lines of Dr. Black's ideas.
- Subjects
BATAILLE, Georges, 1897-1962; HUMAN-animal relationships; HUMAN anatomy; EVOLUTIONARY theories; ANATOMY; NINETEENTH century
- Publication
Nasleđe, 2019, Issue 43, p41
- ISSN
1820-1768
- Publication type
Article