body swap
{{Short description|Storytelling device}}
{{Redirect|Bodyswap|the Red Dwarf episode|Bodyswap (Red Dwarf)}}{{More citations needed|date=April 2024}}
A body swap (also named mind swap, soul swap or brain swap) is a storytelling device seen in a variety of science fiction and supernatural fiction, in which two people (or beings) exchange minds and end up in each other's bodies.{{cite web |date=25 November 2010 |title=6 staples of sci-fi and fantasy television |url=http://www.denofgeek.us/tv/20677/6-staples-of-sci-fi-and-fantasy-television |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315042020/http://www.denofgeek.us/tv/20677/6-staples-of-sci-fi-and-fantasy-television |archive-date=15 March 2016 |access-date=7 May 2018 |website=denofgeek.us}} The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction calls the trope Identity Exchange a version of "Identity Transfer".[https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/identity_exchange Identity Exchange], In: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Description
There are different types of body swapping. For non-technology swapping, switches can be caused by magic items such as amulets, heartfelt wishes, or just strange quirks of the universe. The switches typically reverse after the subjects have expanded their world views, gained a new appreciation for each other's troubles by literally "walking in another's shoes" and/or caused sufficient amounts of farce. Notable examples{{Whom|date=March 2024}} include the books Vice Versa (1882){{cite web|url=http://www.allreaders.com/Topics/Info_17775.asp|title=Vice Versa by F. Anstey Detailed Book Review|last=Jose|first=Michael JR|access-date=24 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408092030/http://www.allreaders.com/Topics/Info_17775.asp|archive-date=8 April 2011}} and Freaky Friday (1972),{{cite news|url=http://www.sptimes.com/News/020401/Hernando/The_mother_versus_the.shtml|title=The mother versus the author|last=King|first=Robert|date=February 4, 2001|work=St. Petersburg Times|access-date=24 November 2010|location=Hernando|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523033908/http://www.sptimes.com/News/020401/Hernando/The_mother_versus_the.shtml|archive-date=23 May 2011}} as well as the film versions of both.
Switches accomplished by technology, exempting gadgets advanced sufficiently to appear as magic, are the fare of mad scientists. Body-swapping devices are usually characterized by a highly experimental status, straps, helmets with many complicated cables that run to a central system and a tendency to direly malfunction before their effects can be reversed. Those without such means may resort to brain transplants. Such experiments can have overtones of horror or erotism.
Body swap is one of the mechanisms of accidental travel in fiction.
See also
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
Further reading
- {{Cite encyclopedia |year=2024 |title=Identity Exchange |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/identity_exchange |access-date=2024-03-30 |edition=4th |author1-last=Langford |author1-first=David |author1-link=David Langford |editor1-last=Clute |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Clute |editor2-last=Langford |editor2-first=David |editor2-link=David Langford |editor3-last=Sleight |editor3-first=Graham |editor3-link=Graham Sleight}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110713025917/http://blogs.indiewire.com/spout/archives/10_cliches_of_the_body_swap_movie/ 10 Cliches of the Body Swap Movie]—Archive of a Spout post at Indiewire
- [https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?keywords=body-swap,body%20swap&explore=keywords&sort=release_date,desc Body swap Tags IMDb]
- [https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?keywords=Body-switching,Body%20switching&explore=keywords&sort=release_date,desc Body switch Tags IMDb]
{{Film genres}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Body Swap}}
Category:Fiction about body swapping
Category:Science fiction themes