Veder Robin
Pennsylvania State University, Middletown.
Int J Hist Sport. 2011;28(8-9):1336-52. doi: 10.1080/09523367.2011.567781.
This essay examines the images and looking practices central to Bess M. Mensendieck's (c.1866-1959) 'functional exercise' system, as documented in physical culture treatises published in Germany and the United States between 1906 and 1937. Believing that muscular realignment could not occur without seeing how the body worked, Mensendieck taught adult non-athletes to see skeletal alignment and muscular movement in their own and others' bodies. Three levels of looking practices are examined: didactic sequences; penetrating inspection and appreciation of physiological structures; and ideokinetic visual metaphors for guiding movement. With these techniques, Mensendieck's work bridged the body cultures of German Nacktkultur (nudism), American labour efficiency and the emerging physical education profession. This case study demonstrates how sport historians could expand their analyses to include practices of looking as well as questions of visual representation.
本文考察了贝丝·M·门森迪克（约1866 - 1959）“功能锻炼”体系的核心图像及观察方法，这些内容记录于1906年至1937年间在德国和美国出版的体育文化论著中。门森迪克认为，如果不了解身体的运作方式，肌肉就无法重新排列，因此她教导成年非运动员观察自己和他人身体中的骨骼排列及肌肉运动。本文考察了三个层次的观察方法：教学序列；对生理结构的深入检查和欣赏；以及引导运动的意动视觉隐喻。通过这些技巧，门森迪克的工作架起了德国裸体文化（裸体主义）、美国劳动效率和新兴体育教育专业之间的身体文化桥梁。本案例研究展示了体育历史学家如何能够扩展他们的分析，将观察方法以及视觉呈现问题纳入其中。
