Overview

This is the first book-length study of physical disability in eighteenth-century England. It assesses the ways in which meanings of physical difference were formed within different cultural contexts. It examines how disabled men and women used, appropriated, or rejected these representations in making sense of their own experiences. In the process, the book asks a series of related questions: what constituted 'disability' in this period? How was impairment perceived in eighteenth-century culture and society? How did people with disabilities see themselves and relate to others? What do their stories tell us about the social and cultural contexts of disability in this period, and in what ways were these narratives and experiences shaped by class and gender? To answer these questions, the book explores the languages of disability, the relationship between religious and medical discourses of disability, and analyses depictions of the disabled in popular culture, art, and the media. It also uncovers the 'hidden histories' of disabled men and women themselves drawing on elite letters and autobiographies, Poor Law documents and criminal court records.

Full Product Details

9780415886444

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

David M. Turner is Senior Lecturer in History at Swansea University.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available