Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Just like those confined to asylums in the past due to the 'chaos' they are presumed to pose, so voices of those variously castigated as 'mad' or 'mentally ill/disabled' in historical and contemporary discourses are frequently marginalized, confined or suppressed in 'sanist' disciplines such as biblical studies. Bible and Bedlam addresses this silencing by bringing mad studies and disability studies into lively exchange with selected biblical characterizations and authors in both history and interpretation.
Accounts of the causes and treatments of perceived madness and mental illness/disability have of course diverged significantly throughout recorded history and cross-culturally. However, the social stigma and deviance projected onto characters on account of such conditions is widely attested. With this in mind, in Bible and Bedlam Louise Lawrence probes and critically questions first, the social exclusion of those characters who are labeled as 'disordered' or 'mad' in biblical texts and second, provocatively unveils the widespread ideological 'gate keeping' and 'protection' from such labels in both history and scholarship of celebrated figures including Jesus, Paul, John the Evangelist and John the Seer. Voices (both ancient and contemporary) of those who are frequently labelled autistic, psychotic or mad are among those evocatively juxtaposed here with New Testament characters, authors and texts.
Synopsis
Bible and Bedlam first critically questions the exclusion and stereotyping of certain biblical characters and scholars perceived as 'mad', as such judgements illustrate the 'sanism' (prejudice against individuals who are diagnosed or perceived as mentally ill) perpetuated within the discipline of Western biblical studies. Second, it seeks to highlight the widespread ideological 'gatekeeping' - 'protection' and 'policing' of madness in both western history and scholarship - with regard to celebrated biblical figures, including Jesus and Paul. Third, it initiates creative exchanges between biblical texts, interpretations and contemporary voices from 'mad' studies and sources (autobiographies, memoirs etc.), which are designed to critically disturb, disrupt and displace commonly projected (and often pejorative) assumptions surrounding 'madness'. Voices of those subject to diagnostic labelling such as autism, schizophrenia and/or psychosis are among those juxtaposed here with selected biblical interpretations and texts.