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Synopsis
Ours is a culture riddled with preoccupations about health and disease. In this timely study Sander L. Gilman demonstrates how images of beauty and ugliness have constructed a visual history which records the artificial boundaries that continue to divide ‘healthy’ bodies from ones that are ill. He shows how cultural fantasies of health and illness have come to be identified and defined by means of visual, aesthetic criteria – for the healthy is now seen as beautiful and the ill as ugly.
How did these categories acquire medical associations? The history of our perception of the ‘beautiful body’ is charged with anxieties about contagion and ugliness and, furthermore, entangled with political implications brought about by our all-too-frequent interpretation of ‘race’ as a medical category. Sander Gilman looks at how nineteenth-century theorists collected medical and racial data from the shapes of noses, and at contemporary fears concerning syphilis, vividly personified in the diseased hero of Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opéra. He also scrutinizes Mark Twain’s frank account of a visit to the Holy Land for signs of implicit prejudice about the health or illness of the resident Arabs and Jews. These concerns are brought up-to-date when the author turns to pathological case histories and recent AIDS posters issued by governments worldwide.
This is more than simply a history of medicine augmented by visual evidence; its true originality lies in reading from the same visual sources an otherwise unnoticed aestheticization of the body. In so doing, Sander Gilman has discovered a new, exciting, alternative reading of the history of health and illness.
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About the Author
Sander L. Gilman is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the Liberal Arts and Sciences as well as Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at Emory University. A cultural and literary historian, he is the author or editor of more than a hundred books, including Doc or Quack: Science and Anti-Science in Modern Medicine (Reaktion, 2025).
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Health and Illness: Images of Difference (Picturing History)
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Condition: Good. Your purchase helps support Sri Lankan Children's Charity 'The Rainbow Centre'. Ex-library, so some stamps and wear, but in good overall condition. Our donations to The Rainbow Centre have helped provide an education and a safe haven to hundreds of children who live in appalling conditions. Seller Inventory # Z1-C-090-03086
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Health and Illness: Images of Difference
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Health and Illness: Images of Difference (Picturing History)
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Condition: Fair. This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside.This book has hardback covers. Book contains pencil markings. In fair condition, suitable as a study copy. Dust jacket in good condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item,750grams, ISBN:9780948462696. Seller Inventory # 5819944
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Health and Illness: Images of Difference
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Condition: Good. This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside.This book has hardback covers. In good all round condition. Dust jacket in good condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item,750grams, ISBN:9780948462696. Seller Inventory # 9984912
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Health and Illness: Images of Difference
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Reaktion Books Ltd, London, 1995
ISBN 10: 0948462698
ISBN 13: 9780948462696
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Hard Cover. Condition: Very Good -. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good -. First Hardback Edition. 240 x 165mm. pp. 200. English text. First hardback edition of 'Health and Illness: Images of Difference'. Black and white illustrations. Bound in original light brown boards. Housed in pictorial dust jacket. Previous owners name to f.e.p and bump to front boards, otherwise book generally clean. Dust jacket shows a few light bumps and marks. Binding strong. Dust jacket protected with removable mylar cover. See images. Seller Inventory # 041926
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Health and Illness: Images of Difference
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Condition: Good. This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside.This book has hardback covers. In good all round condition. No dust jacket. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item,700grams, ISBN:0948462698. Seller Inventory # 9967629
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Health and Illness
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Hardback. Condition: New. Ours is a culture riddled with preoccupations about health and disease. In this timely study Sander L. Gilman demonstrates how images of beauty and ugliness have constructed a visual history which records the artificial boundaries that continue to divide 'healthy' bodies from ones that are ill. He shows how cultural fantasies of health and illness have come to be identified and defined by means of visual, aesthetic criteria - for the healthy is now seen as beautiful and the ill as ugly.How did these categories acquire medical associations? The history of our perception of the 'beautiful body' is charged with anxieties about contagion and ugliness and, furthermore, entangled with political implications brought about by our all-too-frequent interpretation of 'race' as a medical category. Sander Gilman looks at how nineteenth-century theorists collected medical and racial data from the shapes of noses, and at contemporary fears concerning syphilis, vividly personified in the diseased hero of Leroux's The Phantom of the Opéra. He also scrutinizes Mark Twain's frank account of a visit to the Holy Land for signs of implicit prejudice about the health or illness of the resident Arabs and Jews. These concerns are brought up-to-date when the author turns to pathological case histories and recent AIDS posters issued by governments worldwide.This is more than simply a history of medicine augmented by visual evidence; its true originality lies in reading from the same visual sources an otherwise unnoticed aestheticization of the body. In so doing, Sander Gilman has discovered a new, exciting, alternative reading of the history of health and illness. Seller Inventory # LU-9780948462696
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Health and Illness
Seller: Kennys Bookshop and Art Galleries Ltd., Galway, GY, Ireland
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Condition: New. Ours is a culture riddled with preoccupations about health and disease. This study demonstrates how images of beauty and ugliness have constructed a visual history which records the artificial boundaries that continue to divide 'healthy' bodies from ones that are ill. Series: Picturing History. Num Pages: 200 pages, 91 black & white illustrations. BIC Classification: JFC; JHM. Category: (G) General (US: Trade); (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 234 x 156 x 20. Weight in Grams: 631. . 1995. Hardback. . . . . Seller Inventory # V9780948462696
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Health and Illness: Images of Difference
Seller: Revaluation Books, Exeter, United Kingdom
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Hardcover. Condition: Brand New. 200 pages. 9.50x6.50x0.75 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __0948462698
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Health and Illness: Images of Difference (Picturing History)
Seller: Majestic Books, Hounslow, United Kingdom
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Condition: New. pp. 200. Seller Inventory # 7892553
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