Romantic Medicine and the Gothic Imagination: Morbid Anatomies

This book explores the crossover between the Gothic and the medical imagination in the Romantic period, arguing that the Gothic's focus on fear and gore gives it access to nonnormative bodies and reallocates medical and narrative agency to these bodies. Each chapter pairs a trope with a critical medical debate, granting silenced bodies power over their own narratives.

Format: Hardback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 30 April 2022
Publisher: University of Wales Press

This captivating book delves into a fascinating intersection of the Gothic and medical imagination during the Romantic period. It explores the gruesome and unsettling aspects of medical experimentation, while also broadening the horizons of medical theories in a speculative realm by examining Gothic novels, short stories, poetry, drama, and chapbooks. Through a comparative analysis of the Gothic's collection of unsettling tropes and morbid anatomy's catalog of diseased organs, the author compellingly argues that the Gothic's emphasis on fear and gore grants it access to non-normative bodies, re-distributing medical and narrative agency to those previously perceived as powerless.

Each chapter of this thought-provoking work pairs a trope with a critical medical debate, granting marginalized bodies the authority to shape their own narratives. The reanimated corpse confronts fears surrounding vitalism, the skeleton sheds light on concerns about pain, the unreliable corpse feeds on anxieties related to dissection, the devil redirects apprehensions about disability, and the dangerous narrative manipulates fears of contagion and vaccination.

By delving into this captivating crossover, the book offers a fresh perspective on the Romantic era, challenging societal norms and expanding our understanding of the human condition. It serves as a testament to the enduring power of literature to explore the darkest corners of the human psyche and shed light on the complexities of medical science.

Weight: 460g
Dimension: 224 x 144 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781786838483