Approaching Hysteria: Disease and Its Interpretations (Princeton Legacy Library)

What does this burgeoning corpus of writing tell us? Why, in recent years, has the history of hysterical disorders carried such resonance for commentators in the sciences and humanities? What can we learn from the textual traditions of hysteria about writing the history of disease in general? What is the broader cultural meaning of the new hysteria studies? In the second half of the book, Micale discusses the many historical "cultures of hysteria." He reconstructs in detail the past usages of the hysteria concept as a powerful, descriptive trope in various nonmedical domains, including poetry, fiction, theater, social thought, political criticism, and the arts. His book is a pioneering attempt to write the historical phenomenology of disease in an age preoccupied with health, and a prescriptive remedy for writing histories of disease in the future.

• | Author: Mark S. Micale
• | Publisher: Princeton University Press
• | Publication Date: January 15, 2019
• | Number of Pages: 344 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 0691605610
• | ISBN-13: 9780691605616