231068 Unfit, Invalid, Insane- Illness and Disease as Cultural Metaphors (S) (WiSe 2013/2014)

For centuries, literary narratives of bodily and psychic illness have been told in an effort to make disease and sickness appear more concrete, to reify the invisible and untouchable by giving it names, bodies and stories. By extension, these narratives may even seek to shed light on a culture’s and generation’s fears as they are provoked by particular diseases, or reflect as well as criticize attitudes towards physical and mental illnesses.
In this class we will investigate a broad selection of illness narratives and speculate about possible meanings of illness as a cultural metaphor.