Overview

T. S. Eliot memorably said that separation of the man who suffers from the mind that creates is the root of good poetry. This book argues that this is wrong. Beginning from Virginia Woolf's 'On Being Ill', it demonstrates that modernism is, on the contrary, invested in physical illness as a subject, method, and stylizing force. Experience of physical ailments, from the fleeting to the fatal, the familiar to the unusual, structures the writing of the modernists, both as sufferers and onlookers. Illness reorients the relation to, and appearance of, the world, making it appear newly strange; it determines the character of human interactions and models of behaviour. As a topic, illness requires new ways of writing and thinking, altered ideas of the subject, and a re-examination of the roles of invalids and carers. This book reads the work five authors, who are also known for their illness, hypochondria, or medical work: D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, T. S. Eliot, Dorothy Richardson, and Winifred Holtby. It overturns the assumption that illness is a simple obstacle to creativity and instead argues that it is a subject of careful thought and cultural significance.

Full Product Details

9780198825425

Table of Contents

Reviews

Overall, Modernism and Physical Illness adds a rigorous close reading of Fifield's selected authors to the ongoing work being done in modernist studies. The intersection of modernist aesthetics and physical illness is rich with possible contributions to our understanding of the modernist movement overall. Fifield's reading is a thoughtful addition that adds dimension to modernist studies while providing groundwork for forging new alliances with new work in disability studies. * Jennifer Marchisotto, James Joyce Quarterly * Recommended. * L. Simon, CHOICE *

Recommended. * L. Simon, CHOICE *

Author Information

Peter Fifield is Lecturer in Modern Literature in the Department of English and Humanities at Birkbeck, University of London. His interests include modernism, medical humanities, and literary ethics. He has published work on Samuel Beckett, E. M. Forster, Emmanuel Levinas, and others.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available