10/29 Athenaeum at 1pm - Taking the Devil Into Your Mouth - April Herndon

Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 1:00 pm
"Taking the Devil Into Your Mouth: The Christian Weight Loss Movement Meets Mainstream American Weight Loss Narratives"by April Herndon

This talk examines narratives of the U.S. Christian weight loss movement alongside secular U.S. weight loss narratives and explores how these two movements express similar themes. In particular, the talk investigates shared themes of sin, the impurity of the body, the body as a temple for the self—a temple that can be defiled—salvation, and the need to prove that one is saved or at least trying to be saved. By examining stories from individuals who have lost weight, this paper explores how a “spiritual hunger” (essentially unrelated to physiology but that suggests personal pathology and responsibility) is central to mainstream stories of weight loss.

The fall 2008 schedule can be found at: http://www.winona.edu/library/athenaeum/The Library Athenaeum is located on the second floor of the WSU Library.