Synopses & Reviews
This compelling book uses 103 illustrations to argue that modes of visualizing science have profoundly determined “fetal politics” and the contemporary abortion debates. With its close interplay of visual and verbal texts, it traces both the history of fetal images from the sixteenth century onward (including the classic Life magazine photographs of Lennart Nilsson in 1965) and the consequences of how obstetrical and embryological knowledge was represented over time in Europe—to both specialists and the public—as medical knowledge came to be produced and understood through anatomical observation.
As the abortion debates witness, perhaps no flesh is more overdetermined with cultural meaning than the female reproductive body. Language and rhetoric have had an important role in framing the debates and shaping attitudes: “pro-choice” versus “abortion,” “anti-abortion” rather than “pro-life,” “fetus” rather than “baby” or “unborn child,” “uterus” rather than “womb.” How visual modes of representing obstetrical and embryological information, which have similar consequences in forming both public and professional opinion, shape the politics of the abortion debates has until recently received very little attention.
Synopsis
This book uses 103 illustrations from the 16th century onward and the history of obstetrical and embryological knowledge to argue that modes of visualizing science have profoundly determined "fetal politics" and the contemporary abortion debates.
Synopsis
A history of fetal images from the sixteenth century to the present day.
Synopsis
This compelling book uses illustrative material to argue that modes of visualizing science have profoundly influenced 'fetal politics' and the contemporary abortion debates. With its close interplay of visual and verbal texts, it traces both the history of fetal images from the sixteenth century onward (including the classic Life magazine photographs of Linnart Nilsson in 1965) and the consequences of how obstetrical and embryological knowledge was represented in Europe to both specialists and the public. The role of language and rhetoric in framing the debates and shaping attitudes surrounding reproductive issues has long been recognised. Fetal Positions demonstrates how visual modes of representing obstetrical and embryological information have similar consequences in forming both public and professional opinion. The book demonstrates the importance of history for framing and understanding contemporary political issues and contributes to the emerging study of the history of sexuality.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [143]-149) and index.
About the Author
Karen Newman is University Professor and Professor of Comparative Literature and English at Brown University. She is the author, most recently, of Fashioning Femininity and English Renaissance Drama.
Table of Contents
'Prologue; Fetal positions; Epilogue; Notes; Sources; Index.\n
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