Idioms of distress : psychosomatic disorders in medical and imaginative literature

Summary: "This interdisciplinary study examines the enigmatic category of psychosomatic disorders as articulated in medical writings and represented in literary works of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Six key works are analyzed: Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Emile Zola's Therese Raquin, Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks, Arthur Miller's Broken Glass, Brian O'Doherty's The Strange Case of Mademoiselle P., and Pat Barker's Regeneration. Each is a case study in detection as the hidden sources of bodily ills are uncovered in intra- or interpersonal conflicts such as guilt, family tensions, and marital discord. The book fosters a better understanding of these puzzling disorders by revealing how they function simultaneously as masks and as manifestations of inner suffering."--Jacket.

Record details

ISBN: 0791487598
ISBN: 9780791487594
ISBN: 9780791455586
ISBN: 0791455580
ISBN: 9780791455579
ISBN: 0791455572
ISBN: 9781417520213
ISBN: 1417520213
Physical Description: 1 online resource (xiv, 225 pages)
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Publisher: Albany : State University of New York Press, ©2003.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-220) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Machine generated contents note: Hiding and Seeking Distress -- 1. Speaking through the Body -- 2. Swings of the Historical Pendulum -- 3. Mysterious Leap -- 4. Literary Patients -- Metaphors of Distress -- 5. "A Strange Sympathy betwixt Soul and Body": Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (1850) -- 6. Nerves: At the Interstices of Physiology and Psychology: Emile Zola, Therese Raquin (1867) -- 7. "A Sick Spot on the Body of our Family": Thomas Mann, Buddenbrooks (1900) -- 8. "Legs Turned to Butter": Arthur Miller, Broken Glass (1994) -- 9. Substance and Shadow: Brian O'Doherty, The Strange Case of Mademoiselle P. (1992) -- 10. Shell Shock: Pat Barker, Regeneration (1991) -- 11. Outing the Distress.
Restrictions on Access Note:	NLC staff and students only.
Source of Description Note:	Print version record.