The Language of Disease

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Focusing on the representation of syphilis in nineteenth-century France, this interdisciplinary study examines how literature and medical texts articulate the experience of the diseased body. Steven Wilson employs a critical medical humanities lens, integrating insights from gender studies, theology, and pain studies. By analyzing both canonical and lesser-known authors, the work reveals how language reflects societal anxieties surrounding disease, including issues of morality and state surveillance, while highlighting literature's role in depicting illness.