Title How the evolutionary imperative process impacts upon the development of body adornment and jewellery Type Thesis URL http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/5459/ Date 2009 Citation Speet, Scilla (2009) How the evolutionary imperative process impacts upon the development of body adornment and jewellery. PhD thesis, University of the Arts London. Creators Speet, Scilla Usage Guidelines Please refer to usage guidelines at http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/policies.html or alternatively contact [email protected]. License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives Unless otherwise stated, copyright owned by the author How the Evolutionary Imperative Process Impacts upon the Development of Body Adornment and Jewellery Scilla Speet A thesis Submitted in Partial Fulilment of the Requirements of The University of the Arts London for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2009 1 ABSTRACT The thesis is concerned with the imperatives which drive the evolution of body adornment and the creation of jewellery in order to establish a tenable new model which may be used to categorise and explain the nature and intention (both functional and conceptual) of body-related artefacts, past, present and future. Existing models offer value judgements constrained by a Eurocentric anthropological perspective. The thesis investigates the theoretical potential of a neo-Darwinian imperative critique informed, inter alia, by post-Freudian and post-modern values, and feminist theory. It is argued that a mechanism has been operating throughout human history / evolution which has led both sexes to transform their natural bodies in aspiring to an idealised vision. An explanation of this process is approached through an analysis of the place of sexuality and sexual aesthetics in representation / re-presentation through the act of body decoration. An investigation of the evolutionary history and psychology of humans in relation to body adornment shows how the concept of beauty may have evolved as a mode of communication in culture and, most importantly, how jewellery came to be a signiicant factor in the construction of social and cultural structures and the social control of women’s sexuality. The model presented offers a critical perspective placing the biological imperative in a pre- determining role and underpinning other imperatives impacting upon and relecting levels of consciousness. The thesis argues that no contemporary discourse which excludes the neo- Darwinian dimension can enable the proper analysis of issues such as the interrelationship (co-evolution) between genes, culture, artefact, design and representation in one coherent framework. This critical approach, and its incorporation into the resulting model, proffer the richest resource for informed analysis and is therefore an original contribution to knowledge. Some contemporary jewellers demonstrate a unique understanding of the human condition and human nature, and their ability to encapsulate / translate psycho-emotional narrative through conceptualisation evidences the cognitive / physical relationships with jewellery. Analyses of structured academic case studies of this work seek to identify and establish the principal imperative driving the design process. This thesis uses jewellery, body presentation and their accompanying iconography and semiotic indices to suggest an alternative rationale for understanding human behaviour as expressed in the cultural representational forms understood as jewellery i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My love goes to my husband Don Baxendale for his unconditional support and endless patience and my respect and heartfelt appreciation to my parents Louk and Yvonne Speet for their unfailing belief in me. Special thanks is also due to Peter Close for his editorial expertise, dedication and his kind forbearance. My gratitude goes to Ian Padgett my director of studies for his total commitment to my cause, his valuable comments, criticisms and the unappeasable dynamism with which he made me challenge my own arguments. I am also privileged to have had the wise and loyal support of Professor Sarat Maharaj as my second supervisor, on this long and often lonely journey. More generally I am indebted to all those dedicated specialists from their various disciplines whose research indings and discourse contributed to the consolidation of my own ideas and research. ii Dedicated to the memory of my brother Hugo iii CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................iii CONTENTS.................................................................................................................................iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS...................................................................................................... x GLOSSARY................................................................................................................................ xx CHAPTER 1 The critical evaluation of the history and context of jewellery as a mode of representation 1 1.0 Introduction .........................................................................................................................1 1.1 A ....................1 critique of Oppi Untracht’s “Psychocosmogram or Jewel Mandala” 1.1.1 The Question of ‘Self’ in Untracht’s Mandala............................................................4 1.1.2 An evolutionary approach ...........................................................................................7 1.2 Jewellery as a mode of representation ..............................................................................11 1.2.1 The daily ritual ..........................................................................................................11 1.2.2 What governs these rules and rituals? ......................................................................13 1.3 Conventional socio / historical framework ......................................................................17 1.3.1 The wearing of jewellery: Not just a simple act of ‘self expression’ .......................20 1.3.2 Methods and hypotheses ...........................................................................................21 1.3.3 Research question .....................................................................................................27 1.4 Summary ..........................................................................................................................28 CHAPTER 2 Bio-imperatives: in the context of women’s bodies and the development of a psychology of ‘self re-presentation’ ..................................................................................................................31 2.0 Introduction .......................................................................................................................31 2.1 The thesis propositions (structuring the thesis enquiry) ...................................................34 2.2 Factors affecting the nature of sexual relations, outcome determinants within the hypothesis / propositions. ..............................................................................................34 2.2.1 Genetic imperative: The raw materials of sexual life ...............................................34 2.2.2 Natural selection imperative: Two separate sexes are established ...........................34 2.2.3 Sexual selection imperative: Competition between members of the same sex ........35 2.2.4 Aesthetic imperative: Associating beauty and sexual allure .....................................35 2.2.5 Control imperatives for gene pool protection ...........................................................35 2.2.6 Bio-social / psycho-sexual sublimation imperatives ...............................................36 iv 2.3 Convergence of the physical and metaphysical ................................................................37 2.3.1 The evolution of ‘brain’ and ‘mind’, physical and mental interface ...........................38 2.4 Model concepts supporting the hypothesis / propositions. ...............................................40 2.4.1 Construction of theories: Model of developmental phases of the mind’s evolution. 4 0 2.4.2 A model of the copulatory gaze ................................................................................41 2.4.3 Brain and mind ........................................................................................................46 2.4.4 Social imperatives .....................................................................................................47 2.5 Cultural genes. ..................................................................................................................48 2.6 Summary ...........................................................................................................................52 CHAPTER 3 The battle of the sexes begins: conlicts of interest and agendas ...........................................54 3.0 Introduction .......................................................................................................................54 3.1 Sexual competitiveness leads to conlicting interests in identity and has implications for subsequent