Perpetua in the Panopticon: Revisiting Surveillance and Spectacle in the Passio
This article reconsiders Michel Foucault’s two models of premodern spectacle and modern surveillance through an analysis of the Passio Sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis. Foucault’s theory distinguishes premodern societies, characterised by public displays of power, from modern (and postmodern) soci...
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| 格式: | 电子 文件 |
| 语言: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | 载入...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| 出版: |
2024
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| In: |
Journal of early Christian history
Year: 2024, 卷: 14, 发布: 2, Pages: 48-65 |
| Further subjects: | B
Surveillance
B Perpetua B Martyrdom B Power B Foucault |
| 在线阅读: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| 总结: | This article reconsiders Michel Foucault’s two models of premodern spectacle and modern surveillance through an analysis of the Passio Sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis. Foucault’s theory distinguishes premodern societies, characterised by public displays of power, from modern (and postmodern) societies, marked by surveillance and internalisation of power. While Foucault’s model asserts a clear divide, the following analysis identifies signs of surveillance within the Passio, troubling and nuancing this division. The article examines how the narrative portrays surveillance alongside spectacle, especially evident in the figure of the lanista (gladiatorial trainer), who embodies a surveilling gaze akin to Foucault’s panoptic model. The lanista’s presence suggests an internalised surveillance, which Perpetua experiences as liberating rather than repressive. This article argues that Perpetua’s narrative nuances Foucault’s theory by highlighting a form of internal surveillance that, far from being repressive, is experienced as liberating from real societal constraints. |
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| ISSN: | 2471-4054 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of early Christian history
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/2222582X.2024.2421356 |