Surface Tensions: Surgery, Bodily Boundaries, and the Social Self

by Manderson,Lenore

• ISBN13: 9781611320985
• ISBN10: 1611320984
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2011-10-01
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Surface Tensions is an expansive, yet intimate study of how people remake themselves after catastrophic bodily change--the loss of limbs, the loss of function, the loss or replacement of organs. Against a sweeping cultural backdrop of art, popular culture, and the history of science and medicine, Manderson uses narrative epistemology based on in-depth interviews with over 300 individuals to show how they re-establish the coherence of their bodies, identities, and biographies. In addition to offering important new insights into the care, rehabilitation, and rehabituation of post-trauma patients, Manderson's work challenges conventional ideas about the nature of embodiment and is an important contribution to medical anthropology, disability studies, and cultural studies.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 7
Prologue: Perdita's Story	p. 17
The Body as Subject	p. 23
Our Cyborg Selves, and Other Modern Tales	p. 57
Visible Ruptures: The Art of Living with Lack	p. 93
Body Basics: Living with a Stoma	p. 137
The Feminine in Question	p. 173
Replaceable Parts: The End of Natural Life	p. 207
Conclusion: Necessity's Children	p. 241
References	p. 269
Index	p. 285
About the Author	p. 295
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