Performance as Pathology
The Case of Munchausen's Syndrome and Performative Illness
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4552391 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Natalie Alvarez (0009-0007-6904-959X, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 63 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 209-224 |
| Publication date | 2011-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Theatre Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0192-2882 • E-ISSN: 1086-332X |
| Publisher | Project MUSE (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1353/tj.2011.0065 |
| OpenAlex | W2037541840 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
Munchausen's syndrome is the term applied to patients who chronically perform or feign illness with seemingly no ulterior motive. In the absence of an apparent motive, the diagnosis of Munchausen's effectively pathologizes performance-a pathologization arising in response to virtuosic performances of illness that often succeed, for a time, in duping doctors. This essay examines Munchausen's as a performative illness wherein the simulated symptom has the potential to produce the symptom, leading to an understanding of the body as not merely extension or materiality, but also as psyche. In this psychophysiological understanding, the performer-patient who simulates the symptom effectively undergoes it, becoming in turn both ill and not ill
Aesthetics · Materiality (auditing · Medical emergency · Munchausen syndrome · Performative utterance · Poison control · Psyche · Psychoanalysis · Psychotherapist · Child Abuse and Related Trauma · Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Medicine · Neurology and Historical Studies · Philosophy · Psychology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |