Author : Jonathan Cole
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262531634
Total Pages : 250 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (316 download)
Book Synopsis About Face by : Jonathan Cole
Download or read book About Face written by Jonathan Cole and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1999-02-18 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is special about the face, and what happens when neurological conditions make expression or comprehension of the face unavailable? Through a mix of science, autobiography, case studies, and speculation, Jonathan Cole shows the importance not only of facial expressions for communication among individuals but also of facial embodiment for our sense of self. He presents, in his words, "a natural history of the face and an unnatural history of those who live without it." The heart of the book lies in the experiences of people with facial losses of various kinds. The case studies are of blind, autistic, and neurologically impaired persons; the most extreme case involves Mobius syndrome, in which individuals are born with a total inability to move their facial muscles and hence to make facial expressions. Cole suggests that it is only by studying such personal narratives of loss that we can understand facial function and something of what all our faces reflect.