What is this “Physical” in Physical Cultural Studies?

Abstract

In this article, we identify various points of ontological, epistemological, and methodological intersection from which an embodied, generative Physical Cultural Studies project can emerge. We follow scholars such as Ingham (1997) and Andrews (2008) in arguing that contemporary “body work” scholars might benefit from “framing” (Butler 2009) embodiment and corporeality within the general coordinates of 1) cultural studies’ politics of articulation (as theory and method) and radical-contextualism and 2) the cultural exigencies of the body (i.e., cultural physicalities)—and in the “messy” practices of reflexivity, empirical vulnerability, and writing (as representation and performance) such embodied research as/in practice demands.

Navigating Role Ambiguity & Conflict: Exploring the Role of the Referee Within the Olympic Sporting Structure

“…In considering the researchers' positionality, and illuminating any biases that may exist, it is important to consider the researchers' background to acknowledge the impact of assumptions and relationships with the subject matter (Giardinia & Newman, 2011). Familiarity with the subject may allow the researchers to bring forth richer responses from the participants and to communicate in the appropriate terminology.…”

“If You’re Reading This, It’s Because I’ve Died”: Masculinity and Relational Risk in Base Jumping

“…"My approach is informed by a number of concerns that autoethnography might help me address. First, it forces me to be much more reflexive, locating myself (and my body) squarely in the text and the analysis (Giardina & Newman, 2011). Second, it should help capture the sensuality of the embodied experience on the "edge" (Evers, 2006).…”

Physical Culture

“…However, I want to draw attention back to two important and, in my view, still underdeveloped elements of the term physical culture hinted at above, which is the articulation of the seemingly ineffable-the experiential and practical significance of bodily movement as/in culture and what Levi-Strauss [39] famously refers to as the 'floating signifiers' that emerge from such movement experiences. Giardina and Newman [9] phrase this as follows: ""physical culture" for us is constituted by, and constitutive of movements both in the local bodily kinetic sense and in the broader political shifts and power relations the human body brings to life" (p. 41).…”

“…This combination of conceptual imprecision and lived intuitiveness is partly what gives rise to ambiguity around the very notion of culture-we all know it is there and somehow important, but we also often struggle to articulate precisely what the term means. Such ambiguity is also at least as prevalent when dealing with the idea of physical culture, which is an often-used term to describe a phenomenon of sociological, anthropological, historical, and philosophical interest [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Across these diverse bodies of literature, ambiguity is sustained in part because of dual usage of the term physical culture in both academic and popular literature.…”