UID:
almahu_9947414661102882
Format:
1 online resource (xvii, 210 pages) :
,
digital, PDF file(s).
ISBN:
9781107707122 (ebook)
Content:
Melancholia is a commonly experienced feeling, and one with a long and fascinating medical history which can be charted back to antiquity. Avoiding the simplistic binary opposition of constructivism and hard realism, this book argues that melancholia was a culture-bound syndrome which thrived in the West because of the structure of Western medicine since the Ancient Greeks, and because of the West's fascination with self-consciousness. While melancholia cannot be equated with modern depression, Matthew Bell argues that concepts from recent depression research can shed light on melancholia. Within a broad historical panorama, Bell focuses on ancient medical writing, especially the little-known but pivotal Rufus of Ephesus, and on the medicine and culture of early modern Europe. Separate chapters are dedicated to issues of gender and cultural difference, and the final chapter offers a survey of melancholia in the arts, explaining the prominence of melancholia - especially in literature.
Note:
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).
Additional Edition:
Print version: ISBN 9781107069961
Language:
English
URL:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107707122
URL:
Volltext
(lizenzpflichtig)
