Sander L. Gilman Books

„At last: a catalogue which is so convincing that it makes a museum visit practically redundant.“ (die tageszeitung)

The book explores the evolution of sexuality representation in Western civilization from the rise of Christianity, highlighting how cultural definitions of beauty, gender, health, and morality have influenced societal identity. Gilman illustrates the enduring themes of masculinity and femininity, as well as the sacred and profane, revealing their interconnectedness within the broader narrative of Western culture over nearly two millennia.

A timely, cogent exploration of how COVID-19 has caused predudice and xenophobia.

Aesthetic surgery's global significance is explored through its historical and cultural contexts, from ancient practices in India to modern trends in South Korea and Argentina. Sander Gilman examines diverse topics, including the cultural implications of cosmetic procedures like nose jobs and breast removal, arguing that these surgeries enable individuals to conform to societal standards and enhance their identities. By presenting a comprehensive history, Gilman reveals the universal desire to "pass" within various social groups, highlighting the profound impact of aesthetic surgery on personal and cultural identity.

Explores the idea of the multicultural in the contemporary world, a question, which the author frames as the question of the relationship between Jews and Muslims: how do Jews define themselves, and how are they in turn defined, within the global struggles of the moment, struggles that turn in large part around a secularized Christian perspective?

A collection of essays dealing with stereotypes in language and in literary texts, especially those associating race with sexuality and pathology (organic disease or madness). The introduction (pp. 15-38) gives a psychological explanation of the need to create stereotypes of the Other and give them mythic negative characteristics in order to categorize and control the world. Negative stereotypes of Jews are discussed in ch. 6 (pp. 150-162), "The Madness of the Jews"; ch. 7 (pp. 162-174), "Race and Madness in I.J. Singer's 'The Family Carnovsky'"; ch. 8 (pp. 175-190), "Sigmund Freud and the Jewish Joke."

The exploration of madness and art in Western culture reveals how stereotypes have influenced societal perceptions and treatment of mental illness from the Middle Ages to the late nineteenth century. Sander L. Gilman presents over 250 visual representations, including manuscripts, sculptures, and photographs, juxtaposed with medical illustrations. This collection highlights the reliance on visual motifs to concretize abstract concepts of mental illness, illustrating the historical relegation of the mentally ill to a state of "otherness" and the evolving societal understanding of insanity.

Explores the questions and doubts surrounding the revitalisation of Jewish life in Germany since the fall of the Wall. The volume includes topics such as the social and institutional role of Jews; the role of religion in daily life; and gender and culture in post-Wall Jewish writing.

. Interweaving the history of posture with our developing knowledge of anatomy and cultural history, and fully illustrated with an array of striking images, Stand Up Straight! is the first comprehensive history of the upright body at rest and in movement.

The connection and science behind race, racism, and mental illnessIn 2012, an interdisciplinary team of scientists at the University of Oxford reported that - based on their clinical experiment - the beta-blocker drug, Propranolol, could reduce implicit racial bias among its users. Shortly after the experiment, an article in Time Magazine cited the study, posing the question: Is racism becoming a mental illness? In Are Racists Crazy? Sander Gilman and James Thomas trace the idea of race and racism as psychopathological categories., from mid-19th century Europe, to contemporary America, up to the aforementioned clinical experiment at the University of Oxford, and ask a slightly different question than that posed by Time: How did racism become a mental illness? Using historical, archival, and content analysis, the authors provide a rich account of how the 19th century ‘Sciences of Man’ - including anthropology, medicine, and biology - used race as a means of defining psychopathology and how assertions about race and madness became embedded within disciplines that deal with mental health and illness.An illuminating and riveting history of the discourse on racism, antisemitism, and psychopathology, Are Racists Crazy? connects past and present claims about race and racism, showing the dangerous implications of this specious line of thought for today.