Art, Medicine, and Femininity: Visualising the Morphine Addict in Paris, 1870-1914

Ming Gao

Research output: Contribution to journalShort ReviewOtherpeer-review

Abstract

Against the backdrop of fin-de-siècle France, Hannah Halliwell presents a meticulous study of feminised visual morphine addict(ion) at the intersection of art, medicine and femininity from 1870 to 1914. The book ambitiously covers many fronts through the prism of art history, ranging across topics as diverse as art, femininity, medicine and gender. It foregrounds the forces of contemporaneous anxieties and social changes, all implicated in the symbolist milieu of decadence embedded in the visual, artistic representation of female morphine addict(ion), both facilitating and constructing its fin-de-siècle visual culture. As such, the book charts a social constructionist visualisation of addict(ion) peppered with unreliability and issues in late nineteenth-century France.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages2
JournalFrench History
DOIs
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 6 Aug 2024

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