The Double Feminine Nature and the Medical Gaze: Elsie Venner (1861)

Elsie Venner: A Romance of Destiny, written in 1861 by Oliver Wendell Holmes, is a singular novel. Written at a time when medicine was struggling to become a model of professionalization, its singularity lies in the fact that there are four doctors involved in the novel: its author, the narrator of...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Rodríguez Pastor, Cristina
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/57970
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11441/57970
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Medical gaze
Affective hermeneutics
Female health
Nurse
Professionalization
Mirada clínica
Hermenéutica afectiva
Salud femenina
Enfermera
Profesionalización
Descripción
Sumario:Elsie Venner: A Romance of Destiny, written in 1861 by Oliver Wendell Holmes, is a singular novel. Written at a time when medicine was struggling to become a model of professionalization, its singularity lies in the fact that there are four doctors involved in the novel: its author, the narrator of the story and two main characters. Apart from this, out of the three main female characters in the novel, two of them sicken as a consequence of their disobedience to social and moral standards. The novel helps us explore some of the most important issues that were at the center of public debate in nineteenth century medicine: the supposedly pathological nature of female health, the complex relationship between doctor and patient, the consequences of crossing the borders of gender roles, the medical treatment of hysteria, the observational skills of the doctor, the role of the nurse and the threats to healthy reproduction.