Body shape and body norm. Dis/ability in Western European art and visual culture of the long 19th century

• Applicant: Dr. Nina Eckhoff-Heindl
• Subject Area: Art History
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 557903035

What characterizes a depicted body as disabled and how would it have to be portrayed to pass as able-bodied? The Emmy Noether Junior Research Group “Body form and body norm” pursues this fundamental question based on the premise that cultural representations of disability are part of a historically determined discourse. The classification of a body as disabled can therefore only be conceived within socio-cultural systems, as the latter determine what is considered as disability and as deviation from the norm. The result of this 'doing disability' is that the inherent construction of disability also regulates those bodies considered as non-disabled or 'normal'. The understanding of disability is thus inextricably intertwined with that of ability. This is especially true for depictions of disability in which bodies require markings to ensure that they are perceived as deviant, and it is precisely in these strategies of depiction that the otherwise invisible body norms appear. Body norms are historically determined classification systems which are based on assumptions about the shape and functioning of human bodies and are accompanied by social and moral-ethical judgements. Against this backdrop, the Noether Group analyses representations of disability and ability in Western European art and visual culture of the long 19th century, focusing mainly on Germany, France and Great Britain. The studies therefore cover a period of profound transformations characterized by norms of functionality, standardization and economization of bodies which persist to this day in notions of 'normal', ideal or norm-deviating corporeality. This project is the first to explore representations of physical and cognitive disabilities in art and visual culture of all types of media and genre from the beginning of the French Revolution to the early years of the Weimar Republic (1789–1923). Drawing on this foundational research, the Noether Group analyzes case studies through media-specific methods that critically examine representations from an intersectional perspective. By means of this multi-perspective approach the project aims to (1) deconstruct evaluations of dis/ability in visual representations, (2) uncover unmarked normative and ideal concepts of corporeality and their significance in art and art theory, and (3) revise theoretical assumptions regarding norm-deviating corporeality within art historical discourses. The Noether Group thus makes an innovative contribution to art history and the interdisciplinary field of cultural dis/ability studies and defines the still young research field of dis/ability art history.

• DFG Programme: Emmy Noether Independent Junior Research Groups