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Twinkind : the singular significance of twins / William Viney ; foreword by George Viney

Author
Viney, William
Additional Titles
Twin kind
Published
Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, 2024.
Copyright Date
©2023
Physical Description
223 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 25 cm
Additional Creators
Viney, George

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Contents
Myth + Legend. Gods and heroes -- Evil twins -- Twin spirits -- Science + Progress. Nature and nurture -- Crime and forensics -- Born and made -- Spectacle + Prophecy. Born entertainers -- Twins and the paranormal -- Twin communities.
Summary
"Twins have captivated the imagination for centuries, occupying a unique place in our cultural and scientific history. Twinkind looks at twins in myth and legend; anatomy, sociology, and genetics; and as sources of spectacle, entertainment, and community. Drawing on hundreds of striking and sometimes haunting illustrations, William Viney examines depictions of twins as protagonists in creation stories ranging from Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca in Aztec mythology to Artemis and Apollo in Greek legend. He describes how twins have featured prominently in scientific research across the centuries, but especially in the work of Francis Galton, whose study of twins on the behavioral question of heredity versus environment gave rise to the pseudoscience of eugenics in the late nineteenth century. Viney explores the representation of twins in art, photography, and film--from the works of Roger Ballen to the cinema of Stanley Kubrick--and delves into the darker meanings ascribed to twins across the millennia. A visual journey like no other, this book sheds critical light on the competing visions of twins around the world and throughout history, showing how the lived experience of twinkind has elicited profound attraction and respect, but also puzzlement, fear, and fascination" --
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ISBN
9780691254753 (hardcover ; alk. paper)
0691254753 (hardcover ; alk. paper)
Note
"First published in the United Kingdom in 2023 by Thames & Hudson Ltd" -- colophon.
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 216-220) and index.
View MARC record | catkey: 44279117