Neo-Victorian After-Affects
Female Genital Mutilation in Emma Donoghue's ‘Cured’ – The Scandalous Case of Isaac Baker Brown
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13008337 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Claire O’callaghan (0000-0002-3329-1209, Brunel University of London, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 147-164 |
| Publication date | 2016-06-30 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Victoriographies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2044-2416 • E-ISSN: 2044-2424 |
| Publisher | Edinburgh University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.3366/vic.2016.0229 |
| OpenAlex | W2467253237 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 14 |
Emma Donoghue's neo-Victorian short story ‘ Cured’ (2002) re-assesses the British gynaecological practice of clitoridectomy conducted in the mid-nineteenth century by the pre-eminent surgeon Isaac Baker Brown. Donoghue revisits the scandal surrounding Baker Brown's medical experimentation from a feminist perspective, offering a reimagining of the case of patient ‘P. F.’ documented in Brown's published medical notes. This article argues that Donoghue utilises the discourses of trauma and affect to re-create and re-evaluate this gendered and scientific case history and to articulate a harrowing feminist narrative elided by Baker Brown's public testimony. By re-expressing Miss F.'s painful plight, Donoghue not only invites the reader to bear after-witness to Baker Brown's barbarous practices but also vehemently critiques this aspect of female history, exposing how unethical and unnecessary his medical intervention was upon women in nineteenth-century England
Art · Art history · Female circumcision · Intervention (counseling · Literature · Narrative · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Sociology · Visual arts · Witness · Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Issues · Gender Studies · Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Law · Medicine · Nursing
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |