The Face: A Cultural History

Award-winning historian Fay Bound-Alberti synthesizes over twenty years of research to offer a sweeping cultural history of our most decisive—and sometimes divisive—body part.

What's in a face? And how much power does it hold?

The Face begins in the historical West, where we learn how humans have interpreted faces and connected specific features with ideas of morality, social hierarchy, psychology, and so much more, setting the stage for the cultural biases that now inform our everyday interactions across the globe. We then watch how new technologies that reflect or alter our face’s appearance have transformed our idea of the Self over time—from the growth of portraiture in the Renaissance and the mass production of mirrors and photography in the nineteenth century, to twenty-first century innovations like digital avatars and face transplants. And throughout, we explore the face as the cultural artifact that it is: a surface that grows, is adorned, and then displayed, influencing who we are and might become as both individuals and members of society.

Readers will walk away with a new understanding of the history, power, and future of the face, alongside its role in modern identity, genetics, technology, and beyond.