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This collection draws on two research contexts that are distinct in their disciplinary character yet linked inexorably in the development of British culture: literature and the history of medicine. Like many of the historicist and interdisciplinary studies that have emerged in recent years, this volume aims to draw on the strengths of two forms of knowledge and their attendant methodological practices in order to provide a thoughtful and productive consideration of the ‘treatment’ of the female body between, approximately, 1600 and 2000. The positioning of women vis-à-vis the man of science is a subject that enters a busy and exciting field of study: feminist approaches to literature and historical considerations of medicine have, for quite some time now, retained an unyielding focus on the female body. Yet although there have been some excellent discussions of the links between psychiatric treatments of women and literature, there remains no single work, to date, that fully explores the impact of women's surgery, gynaecology, and obstetrics on literary production. Nor has there been, conversely, a sustained consideration of how literary trends and styles have shaped the course of gynaecology and other branches of women's medicine. Working at the interface of medical history from another direction (that which acknowledges literature as a key player in the formation of our current understandings of the female body), this volume seeks to augment the existing body of work by stressing the ways in which the science draws upon, modifies, and learns from the ‘metaphors, myths, and narrative patterns’ of popular literature.
Historical considerations of the development of women's medicine have tended to use literary models sparsely; and when used at all, they have been briefly and inadequately acknowledged as evidence of how a particular development in medicine became so pervasive that literary figures exploited it as a means of making their novels marketable and topical. We do not suggest that in many cases this is untrue, but we do aim to underscore the need to accept how the complex intersections between medicine and literature have been of great benefit to the former as well as the latter. Gillian Beer famously observed that the inspired relationship between science and literature has involved intellectual traffic that is ‘two-way’.
The Female Body in Medicine and Literature features essays that explore literary texts in relation to the history of gynaecology and women’s surgery. Gender studies and feminist approaches to literature have become busy and enlightening fields of enquiry in recent times, yet there remains no single work that fully analyses the impact of women’s surgery on literary production or, conversely, ways in which literary trends have shaped the course of gynaecology and other branches of women’s medicine. This book will demonstrate how fiction and medicine have a long-established tradition of looking towards each other for inspiration and elucidation in questions of gender. Medical textbooks and pamphlets have consistently cited fictional plots and characterisations as a way of communicating complex or ‘sensitive’ ideas. Essays explore historical accounts of clinical procedures, the relationship between gynaecology and psychology, and cultural conceptions of motherhood, fertility, and the female organisation through a broad range of texts including Henry More’s Pre-Existency of the Soul (1659), Charlotte Brontë’s Villette (1855), and Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues (1998). The Female Body in Medicine and Literature raises important theoretical questions on the relationship between popular culture, literature, and the growth of women’s medicine and will be required reading for scholars in gender studies, literary studies and the history of medicine. This collection explores the complex intersections between literature and the medical treatment of women between 1600 and 2000. Employing a range of methodologies, it furthers our understanding of the development of women’s medicine and comments on its wider cultural ramifications. Although there has been an increase in critical studies of women’s medicine in recent years, this collection is a key contributor to that field because it draws together essays on a wide range of new topics from varying disciplines. It features, for instance, studies of motherhood, fertility, clinical procedure, and the relationship between gynaecology and psychology. Besides offering essays on subjects that have received a lack of critical attention, the essays presented here are truly interdisciplinary; they explore the complex links between gynaecology, art, language, and philosophy, and underscore how popular art forms have served an important function in the formation of ‘women’s science’ prior to the twenty-first century. This book also demonstrates how a number of high-profile controversies were taken up and reworked by novelists, philosophers, and historians. Focusing on the vexed and convoluted story of women’s medicine, this volume offers new ways of thinking about gender, science, and the Western imagination.
This collection draws on two research contexts that are distinct in their disciplinary character yet linked inexorably in the development of British culture: literature and the history of medicine. Like many of the historicist and interdisciplinary studies that have emerged in recent years, this volume aims to draw on the strengths of two forms of knowledge and their attendant methodological practices in order to provide a thoughtful and productive consideration of the ‘treatment’ of the female body between, approximately, 1600 and 2000. The positioning of women vis-à-vis the man of science is a subject that enters a busy and exciting field of study: feminist approaches to literature and historical considerations of medicine have, for quite some time now, retained an unyielding focus on the female body. Yet although there have been some excellent discussions of the links between psychiatric treatments of women and literature, there remains no single work, to date, that fully explores the impact of women's surgery, gynaecology, and obstetrics on literary production. Nor has there been, conversely, a sustained consideration of how literary trends and styles have shaped the course of gynaecology and other branches of women's medicine. Working at the interface of medical history from another direction (that which acknowledges literature as a key player in the formation of our current understandings of the female body), this volume seeks to augment the existing body of work by stressing the ways in which the science draws upon, modifies, and learns from the ‘metaphors, myths, and narrative patterns’ of popular literature.
The Female Body in Medicine and Literature features essays that explore literary texts in relation to the history of gynaecology and womens surgery. Gender studies and feminist approaches to literature have become busy and enlightening fields of enquiry in recent times, yet there remains no single work that fully analyses the impact of womens surgery on literary production or, conversely, ways in which literary trends have shaped the course of gynaecology and other branches of womens medicine. This book will demonstrate how fiction and medicine have a long-established tradition of looking towards each other for inspiration and elucidation in questions of gender. Medical textbooks and pamphlets have consistently cited fictional plots and characterisations as a way of communicating complex or sensitive ideas. Essays explore historical accounts of clinical procedures, the relationship between gynaecology and psychology, and cultural conceptions of motherhood, fertility, and the female organisation through a broad range of texts including Henry Mores Pre-Existency of the Soul (1659), Charlotte Brontës Villette (1855), and Eve Enslers Vagina Monologues (1998). The Female Body in Medicine and Literature raises important theoretical questions on the relationship between popular culture, literature, and the growth of womens medicine and will be required reading for scholars in gender studies, literary studies and the history of medicine. This collection explores the complex intersections between literature and the medical treatment of women between 1600 and 2000. Employing a range of methodologies, it furthers our understanding of the development of womens medicine and comments on its wider cultural ramifications. Although there has been an increase in critical studies of womens medicine in recent years, this collection is a key contributor to that field because it draws together essays on a wide range of new topics from varying disciplines. It features, for instance, studies of motherhood, fertility, clinical procedure, and the relationship between gynaecology and psychology. Besides offering essays on subjects that have received a lack of critical attention, the essays presented here are truly interdisciplinary; they explore the complex links between gynaecology, art, language, and philosophy, and underscore how popular art forms have served an important function in the formation of womens science prior to the twenty-first century. This book also demonstrates how a number of high-profile controversies were taken up and reworked by novelists, philosophers, and historians. Focusing on the vexed and convoluted story of womens medicine, this volume offers new ways of thinking about gender, science, and the Western imagination.