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Disability and Prosthetics in Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-Century England

David Turner Orcid Logo

The Routledge History of Disease, Pages: 301 - 319

Swansea University Author: David Turner Orcid Logo

Abstract

Although the use of medical technology is often seen as a feature of modernity, the use of prostheses is nothing new. This chapter examines the ways in which prostheses were used to treat a variety of diseases and injuries and analyses the ways in which representations of prosthesis-wearing amputees...

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Published in: The Routledge History of Disease
ISBN: 9781315543420
Published: 2016
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa31727
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first_indexed 2017-01-24T14:48:46Z
last_indexed 2018-02-09T05:18:53Z
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spelling 2017-11-07T15:54:46.9048320 v2 31727 2017-01-24 Disability and Prosthetics in Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-Century England b42030a33ee6196d376ee73775500933 0000-0002-5400-1864 David Turner David Turner true false 2017-01-24 AHIS Although the use of medical technology is often seen as a feature of modernity, the use of prostheses is nothing new. This chapter examines the ways in which prostheses were used to treat a variety of diseases and injuries and analyses the ways in which representations of prosthesis-wearing amputees shaped cultural responses to disability. In the first place, the chapter examines the causes and context of amputation. During the later eighteenth century there was a good deal of debate about the circumstances in which amputation was necessary. This debate highlighted the limits of medical authority and opened a space for challenging the actions of an increasingly powerful hospital-trained surgical elite. The chapter goes on to explore cultural meanings of amputation and prosthetic limbs. Although amputation was a dangerous procedure that made its survivors vulnerable both to infection and to social stigma, cultural images of amputees as dangerous or heroic also proliferated in this period. The chapter shows how representations of amputees were distinctly gendered, with female amputees lacking access to the honorific concepts of disability that were available to male military veterans. The chapter therefore urges historians of medicine to document not just the causes of surgical procedures such as amputation, but also the different cultural meanings that attached to them and how these produced hierarchies of status among patients. Book chapter The Routledge History of Disease 301 319 9781315543420 amputation; prostheses; disability; surgery; veterans 5 8 2016 2016-08-05 COLLEGE NANME History COLLEGE CODE AHIS Swansea University 2017-11-07T15:54:46.9048320 2017-01-24T09:50:21.7043928 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - History David Turner 0000-0002-5400-1864 1
title Disability and Prosthetics in Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-Century England
spellingShingle Disability and Prosthetics in Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-Century England
David Turner
title_short Disability and Prosthetics in Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-Century England
title_full Disability and Prosthetics in Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-Century England
title_fullStr Disability and Prosthetics in Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-Century England
title_full_unstemmed Disability and Prosthetics in Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-Century England
title_sort Disability and Prosthetics in Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-Century England
author_id_str_mv b42030a33ee6196d376ee73775500933
author_id_fullname_str_mv b42030a33ee6196d376ee73775500933_***_David Turner
author David Turner
author2 David Turner
format Book chapter
container_title The Routledge History of Disease
container_start_page 301
publishDate 2016
institution Swansea University
isbn 9781315543420
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - History{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - History
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description Although the use of medical technology is often seen as a feature of modernity, the use of prostheses is nothing new. This chapter examines the ways in which prostheses were used to treat a variety of diseases and injuries and analyses the ways in which representations of prosthesis-wearing amputees shaped cultural responses to disability. In the first place, the chapter examines the causes and context of amputation. During the later eighteenth century there was a good deal of debate about the circumstances in which amputation was necessary. This debate highlighted the limits of medical authority and opened a space for challenging the actions of an increasingly powerful hospital-trained surgical elite. The chapter goes on to explore cultural meanings of amputation and prosthetic limbs. Although amputation was a dangerous procedure that made its survivors vulnerable both to infection and to social stigma, cultural images of amputees as dangerous or heroic also proliferated in this period. The chapter shows how representations of amputees were distinctly gendered, with female amputees lacking access to the honorific concepts of disability that were available to male military veterans. The chapter therefore urges historians of medicine to document not just the causes of surgical procedures such as amputation, but also the different cultural meanings that attached to them and how these produced hierarchies of status among patients.
published_date 2016-08-05T03:38:45Z
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