Representing Epilepsy
Myth and Matter
Distributed for Liverpool University Press
Representing Epilepsy, the latest volume in Liverpool University Press’s acclaimed Representations series, is the first book that looks at the cultural and literary history of epilepsy, a condition that afflicts at least 50 million people worldwide. Jeannette Stirling argues that neurological discourse about epilepsy from the late nineteenth century through to the mid-twentieth century was forged as much by cultural conditions of the times as it is by the science of western medicine. Stirling also explores narratives of epilepsy in works as diverse as David Copperfield and The X Files, drawing out the many ideas of social disorder, tainted bloodlines, sexual deviance, spiritualism, and criminality they depict. This pathbreaking book will be required reading for cultural disability studies scholars and for anyone seeking a better understanding of this very common condition.
Introduction
1 From Hippocrates to Shakespeare and Dickens: epilepsy's entry into 'the circuit of culture'
2 Hystericity and hauntings: the female and the feminised
3 Notes from the borderlands: repressing the returned
4 The colonies
5 Because you're 'you know. That way'
Where to next? The ongoing story of epilepsy
Bibliography
Index
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