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 Politicization of Body Processing and Manipulation 
 
Review by Itzamara Ixta 

 
 

Osterholtz, Anna J.eds. 2020. The Poetics of Processing: Memory formation, identity, and the 
handling of the dead. University Press of Colorado Louisville. 

Keywords: Body processing; Violence; warfare; social politics; ritualistic burials 

 
In present day Western society, the act of processing bodies is often unseen, with a body being 
presented to its kin once ready for burial. The idea of corpse manipulation is seen as a natural 
next step after a person passes away. Similarly, other cultures throughout time have had 
ritualistic processes for their dead that extended beyond the burial. In The Poetics of Processing, 
Anna J. Osterholtz focuses on body processing and the ways in which body manipulation serves 
as a social tool (3). The book itself is separated into three sections- 1) the Americas, 2) Europe, 
Eurasia, and Africa, and lastly 3) Anatomization. Section 1 focuses on historical sites in Peru, 
Chihuahua, Mexico, and the Southwest. The second section has case studies focused in Africa 
and the Middle East. The last section focuses on anatomization, the dissection and analysis of 
bodies, within the United States beginning in the 19th century. 
 
Osterholtz begins the volume by introducing body processing and the poetics model. The Poetics 
Model was a theory developed by Neil Whitehead, where he applied the concept of poetics to 
violence and the way in which it creates identity (4). Whitehead concludes that violence itself is 
both constructive and destructive, and emphasizes social identity while enforcing hierarchies and 
power structures (4). Whitehead’s model goes beyond violence and the immediate gratification, 
but evaluates violence as a cultural trait. This concept is highlighted by each author throughout 
the book. 
 
Within the first section, there is a clear pattern of violence through cultural performance. For 
instance, at the site of Uraca in Majes Valley, Peru, trophy heads of enemies are used to 
emphasize cultural power and dominance over enemies. The trophy heads act as agents that elicit 
responses from the living with a changing relationship dependent on the maker and victim (34) 
Chapter Three, Four and Five continue to emphasize the significance of manipulation and 
processing as part of ritualistic behavior. The same poetic element viewed here falls under 
cultural performance that allows a varying interpretation of what violence is. The Paquime site of 
Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, used body processing as a means to enforce community norms and 
social control. In holding public ceremonies, the act of processing enemy bodies brought about 



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community cohesion. Likewise, the regional focus of the Southwest highlights the overlooked 
importance of an audience. Without an audience to view the violence, norms cannot be enforced, 
and the performative violence loses its cultural impact and social identity. Debra L. Martin and 
Anna J. Osterholtz emphasize that the complexity and symbolic force of violence is a long-term 
processual event reinforced by new acts of violence (94). In this case study, a community met by 
stressors can use violence to maintain their identity as one and symbolically place themselves 
above the enemy. 
 
In section two, the reader begins to understand violence as a means to maintain social order. 
Within the Aksumite kingdom, burial rituals and processing is directly tied to the concept of 
group hood vs personhood and the deviation from social norms (103). In Ancient Egypt, the 
concept of group hood is ruled by the Pharaoh, who executes violence against threats to order 
(123). Section two sparks the conversation of the legitimacy of violence. In modern society, the 
idea of dismemberment is labeled as violence, a common ethnocentric viewpoint. That is, 
examples of violence in past societies may seem exaggerated by our standards that outlaw any 
form of violence against another. However, for these cultures, these processes are socially 
acceptable and for the greater good of their society. 
 
Lastly, we enter the importance of anatomization in the United States. The concept is defined as 
dissection of cadavers. In chapter 10, the authors Christina J. Hodge and Kenneth C. Nystrom 
place emphasis on the poetics of the body as communication tools and material practice (189). 
By the late 19th century, social hierarchies in the United States had been set, and remains 
maintained their personhood. Anatomization began as a punishment of criminals, and eventually 
increased in occurrence for medical schools, where there were instances of illegal resurrection of 
remains, particularly of the disadvantaged (193). Remains of minorities, poor, and mentally ill 
were illegally acquired and used for medical schools. The authors then emphasize the poetics of 
space, particularly in the anatomical theater that serves as a heterotopic space (198-203). The 
acquisition of remains is questioned when it comes to famous collections like Hamann-Todd 
which consist of unclaimed remains. Poetics here differ from the first two sections, and they 
focus on the postmortem treatment symbolic in Western culture. Here, remains are stripped of 
their personhood, with their identity erased or reduced to material (213-230). 
 
The book itself is carefully curated around the theme of poetics. The concept itself is shown to be 
variable culture to culture, but often is dependent on social norms. The need for an audience is 
invaluable for reinforcing social control. Poetics are amplified through the material, architecture 
and space (241). The last section ties together the clear distinction in processing between 
premodern and modern societies. Violence emphasizes the importance of a social hierarchy and 
domination over the enemy. It is important to consider that in the U.S., without human remains 
and associated collections, we wouldn’t have advanced science and research. However, the 
poetics of this violence extends beyond body processing and shines a light on political structures 
that aim to strip disadvantaged communities of their personhood and identity, thus labeling them 
an ‘other.’ 
 
 
 



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Itzamara Ixta is a first-generation master’s student in the Department of Geography and 
Anthropology of Louisiana State University. She is interested in mortuary practices among 
burials in the Andes, with an emphasis on social hierarchies and gender roles. She holds a 
bachelor's degree in Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

© 2022 Itzamara Ixta 

 
 

 
 


