Madhouse of Language

Description:

In The Madhouse of Language, the history of writing about madness is seen in terms of a suppression of mad language by an increasingly confident medical profession, in which orthodox attitudes towards language are endorsed by rigorous treatment of the insane, or by a manipulative moral therapy. Recognised writers of the period reflect the fascination with a form of mental existence that nevertheless remains beyond expression through socially acceptable forms of language. A wide variety of written and oral material by mad men and women, drawn both from medical records and from published works, is discussed in the context of this linguistic suppression. The context, forms and strategies of mad texts are analysed in a highly original account of the linguistic relations between madness and sanity, of the appropriation by sane writers of the forms of English, and of attempts by mad patients to gain access to the expressive potential of language.

subjects: English language,  English literature,  Fiction,  History,  History and criticism,  Language,  Literature,  Literature and mental illness,  Mental illness in literature,  Mentally ill,  Mentally ill in literature,  Style,  English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh,  LITERARY CRITICISM,  European,  English language, history,  Mentally ill, great britain,  English literature, history and criticism, 18th century,  English language, style,  Medicine in literature,  Medicine,  Psycholinguistics,  Language and languages,  Mental Disorders,  History, 18th Century,  Mentally Ill Persons,  Littérature anglaise,  Histoire et critique,  Personnes vivant avec un trouble de santé mentale,  Langage,  Histoire,  Littérature et maladies mentales,  Maladies mentales dans la littérature,  Personnes vivant avec un trouble de santé mentale dans la littérature,  Médecine dans la littérature,  Médecine,  Psycholinguistique,  Langage et langues,  Languages (study discipline),  Language (general communication)

Places: Great Britain

Times: 18th century