An Anthropological Guide to the Art and Philosophy of Mirror Gazing - (Thinking in the World) by Maria Danae Koukouti & Lambros Malafouris

About the Book

"The ability to look at one's face in the mirror and the ability to find one's self in the mirror are two quite different things. The former is a natural capacity that humans share with other animals; the latter is an acquired skill that only humans can master. The craft of mirror-gazing,despite its relevance to daily life is barely understood. An Anthropological Guide to the Art and Philosophy of Mirror Gazing provides a metaphysical manual to understand it. The book is written from a cross-disciplinary and object-based perspective. The role of the mirror as a technology of self-objectification is explored through various case studies of cultures such as the Buryats of Eastern Mongolia. By using various anthropological examples, Koukouti and Malafouris survey and reflect on the structures and experiences of consciousness that underpin the specular image and the different meanings of the self. By combining metaphor, comparison and estrangement - where what was thought of as natural is seen as deliberately caused and altered - this book weaves together ethnographic description and philosophical analysis with empirical examples and experimental studies that allow the reader to think about the world and their subjectivity a bit differently"

Book Synopsis

Looking at one's face in the mirror and finding one's self in the mirror are not the same. The former capacity is something we share with other animals; the latter is a skill: something we have to learn. What does it mean and what does it take to find oneself the mirror?

This book provides a comparative anthropological enquiry into the unity and diversity of mirror gazing. The reader is encouraged to reflect upon and experiment with different mirror gazes through a range of case studies. Koukouti and Malafouris weave together anthropology with philosophy and draw on examples from literature and experiments from psychopathology in a way that has never been attempted before.

The master metaphor is that of the mirror as trap. Mirror gazing is viewed on a par with hunting. Mirroring signifies the hunt for self-knowledge. In a time obsessed with the digital self-image, Koukouti and Malafouris reflect on the structures of consciousness that underpin the different ways of looking at and through the mirror. Combining metaphor, comparison and estrangement, they gesture towards a therapeutic alliance between body and mirroring. This allows us to look in the mirror, and think of our shared humanity differently.

Review Quotes

The most captivating and engaging book that I've read in a very long time. You'll never look at a mirror in the same way again.
Frederick L Coolidge, Professor of Psychology, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, USA

This book is a poetic invitation to explore how mirrors change the way we see. Through 'mirror stories' from science, anthropology, and literature - Narcissus to Shamanic mirrors, it disturbs and estranges us from our familiar relationship to this enchanting object and offers a way to 'look through' rather than at the mirror.
Carey Jewitt, Professor of Learning and Technology, University College London, UK

This book is an insightful guide to seeing some hidden aspects of our everyday thinking through mirrors. A thoughtful journey from Anthropology to Philosophy, from Mongolia to Siberia, where mirrors are taken as an opportunity to rethink the question of selfhood and the way they affect human perception and cognition
Claudio Paolucci, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Bologna, Italy

About the Author

Lambros Malafouris is Associate Professor of Cognitive Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, Tutorial Fellow at Hertford College, and Fellow by Special Election at Keble College, University of Oxford, UK.

Maria Danae Koukouti is Research Assistant at the Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, UK.