Articulating Life's Memory: U.S. Medical Rhetoric About Abortion in the Nineteenth Century

Nathan Stormer

ISBN 10: 0739104306 / ISBN 13: 9780739104309

Published by Lexington Books, 2002

About this Item

235 pages. 9.00x6.25x0.75 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # x-0739104306

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Articulating Life's Memory: U.S. Medical Rhetoric About Abortion in the Nineteenth Century
• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0739104306
• ISBN 13: 9780739104309
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.39 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

Articulating Life's Memory offers a unique view of the history of abortion in early America. Nathan Stormer's work moves beyond general histories of medicine, science, and women; it provides specific insight into how the earliest medical writings on abortion served to create cultural memory. Nineteenth-century medical texts presented the act of abortion as a threat to the carefully circumscribed concepts of nation and race. Stormer analyzes a wealth of literature (and illustrations) from the period to explore the rhetorical techniques that led early Americans to presume that abortion put the integrity of all of American culture at risk. The book's first part provides a layered context for understanding medical practices within the rhetoric of memory formation and sets early antiabortion efforts within the wider framework of nineteenth-century biopolitics and racism. In Part II of the study, Stormer examines the substance of the memory constituted by these early medical practices. Making a major contribution to the study of rhetoric, Articulating Life's Memory will be invaluable to scholars researching reproductive rights and feminist and cultural histories of medicine.

About the Author

Nathan Stormer is Associate Professor of Communication & Journalism at the University of Maine.